Department of Health and Social Care

Mental Health Services

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which NHS Mental Health Trusts (a) he and (b) other Ministers from his Department have met with since September 2022.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Mental Health Services

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many times (a) he and (b) other Ministers from his Department have met with an NHS Mental Health Trust since September 2022.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many times (a) he and (b) other Ministers from his Department have met the Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust since September 2022.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many times (a) he and (b) other Ministers from her Department have met with the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust since September 2022.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many times (a) he and (b) other Ministers from his Department have met with the Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust since September 2022.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Health Services: Standards

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the consequences are of non-adherence to NHS England’s Service Specifications for different treatments and conditions.

Helen Whately: NHS England, together with integrated care boards when a specialised service is commissioned jointly in 2023/24, is responsible for assessing compliance with service specifications.Actions resulting from non-compliance will vary depending on the reasons for and nature of non-compliance, as well as the location and availability of alternative service provision. Examples of typical actions currently taken forward by NHS England include enhanced reporting and monitoring requirements; the agreement of an improvement plan; agreeing mitigations which can be put in place whilst working towards compliance or in a small number of cases, the de-commissioning of the service at a specific provider.

NHS: Sciensus

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 18 July 2022 to Question 26838 on NHS: Sciensus, when the Care Quality Commission required Sciensus to enter special measures; when Sciensus left special measures; and what meetings were held between Sciensus and (a) the National Homecare Medicines Committee and (b) NHS England during this period.

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which NHS England Trusts were advised to put Sciensus on their risk register following an inspection of the supplier by the Care Quality Commission; when they were advised to do so; and which of those Trusts still have the supplier on their risk register.

Maria Caulfield: From 26 November 2020 to 14 December 2020, Care Quality Commission (CQC) carried out an unannounced inspection at Sciensus Pharma Services Limited. Following the publication of the inspection report in May 2021, CQC rated the provider inadequate and placed it in special measures. CQC carried out another unannounced inspection of the provider between 27 July 2021 and 11 August 2021. Following the publication of the inspection report in October 2021, CQC noted improvement from the provider and removed it from special measures. The provider currently has an overall ‘good’ rating. NHS England are members of National Homecare Medicines Committee (NHMC). Following the publication report in May 2021, NHMC monitored Sciensus via the NHMC Supplier Engagement Supplier Performance Escalation Process. NHMC communicated regularly with various stakeholders throughout this period, including Chief Pharmacists Networks, NHS Pharmacy Homecare Teams, Commercial Medicines Unit and NHS England Specialised Commissioning. The NHMC chair was also invited to periodic discussions with the General Pharmaceutical Council and CQC inspectors. Following a final meeting on 4 April 2023, NHMC stepped down service performance monitoring to normal levels of quarterly reviews with the Sciensus senior management team. Sciensus worked closely with NHMC during the initial difficulties, through the recovery phase and later. NHS England do not hold information centrally relating to risk registers. Decisions about risk registers at National Health Service trusts is the responsibility of the individual trusts themselves.

Dialysis Machines: Standards

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the consequences are of non-adherence to NHS England’s Service Specification for Haemodialysis to treat established renal failure performed in a patients home.

Helen Whately: NHS England commissioning teams, jointly with integrated care boards where a specialised service is being jointly commissioned in 2023/24, assess compliance with service specifications and will determine what, if any, action should be taken where a provider may be non-compliant with aspects of the service specification. Each service specification will contain both core and developmental standards and, for the latter, there should be a phased implementation plan. As with any contract, actions resulting from non-compliance will vary depending on the reasons and nature of non-compliance, as well as the location and availability of alternative service provision.Examples of typical actions include enhanced reporting and monitoring requirements, the agreement of an improvement plan, agreeing mitigations which can be put in place whilst working towards compliance, or, in a small number of cases, the de-commissioning of the service at a specific provider.

Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency: Recruitment and Training

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will undertake an audit of skills capacity within the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency; and what steps he is taking to ensure that any skills needs are met through appropriate (a) recruitment and (b) training.

Will Quince: The Department has no plans to undertake an audit of skills within the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The MHRA leads responsibility for the recruitment and training of its staff. We receive regular updates on the performance and capacity of the MHRA through established mechanisms, including quarterly and annual accountability reviews.

Junior Doctors: Pay

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government intends to reallocate the wages of junior doctors who are striking to other projects.

Will Quince: The Government has no such plans.

Breast Cancer: Clinical Trials

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has taken recent steps to ensure that clinical trial databases are kept up to date in order to allow patients with metastatic breast cancer to participate in those trials.

Will Quince: To help improve digital infrastructure and services, the Government has increased funding for the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) which supports and funds clinical trials in the United Kingdom, including those for metastatic breast cancer. NIHR provides an online service called 'Be Part of Research' which promotes participation in health and social care research by allowing users to search for relevant studies and register their interest. The National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service collects and analyses data on all people in England diagnosed with cancer, providing comprehensive data collection and quality assurance over the entire cancer pathway managed by NHS Digital. Health Research Authority has also introduced functionality to automatically register studies seeking approval on the UK-based clinical trials register ISRCTN, which feeds into the Be Part of Research System, increasing data coverage and accuracy for potential participants.

Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency: Staff

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of staffing levels at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency on (a) the time taken by the agency to conduct clinical studies and (b) patient access to clinical studies in each of the last three years.

Will Quince: The average response time for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to issue its initial written opinion following assessment of a clinical trial authorisation application in each of the last three years was 22.83 days for the financial year 2020/21; 27.45 days for the financial year 2021/22; and 45.94 days for the financial year 2022/23.The extended timeline for financial year 2022/23 is the result of increased demand to process applications and respond to queries, in response to which the MHRA is increasing resources and improving processes in this area. Vacancies within the Clinical Trials Unit of the MHRA have been filled, including key leadership posts. The MHRA has also recruited seven new clinical trials assessors over the last 12 months and is currently prioritising their training. Moreover, the MHRA is supplementing new assessor capacity with an additional fixed-term resource of appropriately experienced and qualified specialists to support the training and supervision of new staff. The MHRA does not monitor patient access to clinical trials.

Palantir: Databases

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 17 April to Question 175561 on Palantir: Databases, for what reason that Answer did not mention the common law duty of confidentiality.

Will Quince: Question 175561 asked about the security of data, therefore, the answer summarised the key legislation and standards to which the Foundry platform conforms. It was not felt necessary to spell out common laws which apply to everyone in the United Kingdom. The common law duty of confidentiality is that the use or disclosure of personal information held in confidence can only happen when there is a lawful basis, or consent has been given, or where there is overriding public interest in the disclosure. The data which the platform collates is data which NHS England has a lawful basis for collecting for its statutory purposes. It cannot be used or disclosed for other purposes, and Palantir do not have access to the data. Therefore, the common law duty of confidentiality is fully respected.

Cancer: Health Services

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve the provision of cancer treatment.

Helen Whately: The National Health Service is making progress in delivering the Long Term Plan commitments for cancer by making innovative treatments available to people with cancer quickly. The Cancer Drugs Fund continues to provide patients with innovative drugs and since 2016 has helped over 90,000 patients, with 102 medicines treating 243 different cancers having received funding. The NHS continues to increase investment in minimally invasive cancer therapies and radiotherapy and chemotherapy services.Earlier this year the Government launched a Vaccine Taskforce-style approach for cancer research and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care signed a memorandum of understanding with BioNTech to bring innovative vaccine research to England. In 2023/24, NHS England will continue to make investments in education and training to increase capacity in the cancer workforce, building on the £81 million invested in 2022/23.

Cancer: Health Services

Dean Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that there is adequate focus on cancer in the Major Conditions Strategy.

Helen Whately: The Major Conditions Strategy will draw on previous work on cancer, including over 5,000 submissions provided to the Department as part of our Call for Evidence last year. We will continue to work closely with stakeholders, citizens and the National Health Service to identify actions for the Strategy that will have the greatest impact.

Catheters: Urinary Tract Infections

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether data on the number of patients with a diagnosis for a Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infection is collected nationally.

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to collect national data on the number of patients with a diagnosis for a Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infection.

Helen Whately: NHS England do not collect data in the format requested.

Musculoskeletal Disorders: Health Services

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has with (a) NHS trusts, (b) integrated care boards and (c) other stakeholders on the services that will be offered through integrated community musculoskeletal services.

Helen Whately: No discussions have been had with National Health Service trusts, integrated care boards and other stakeholders on the services that will be offered through integrated community musculoskeletal services.

Health Services

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether support for patients with multimorbidity will be included as a focus in the Major Conditions Strategy.

Helen Whately: The Major Conditions strategy will support patients with multimorbidity by addressing these conditions together in a joined up strategy. This will allow us to focus on where there are similarities in approach and ensure care is better centred around the patient.

Epidermolysis Bullosa: Drugs

Gareth Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of repurposing already licenced drugs for the treatment of the skin condition epidermolysis bullosa.

Gareth Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will review the adequacy of treatment options for the skin condition epidermolysis bullosa (EB); and if he will make an assessment of whether drug repurposing trials might allow for more effective treatments whilst reducing the cost to the NHS of treating EB.

Helen Whately: No assessment has been made. We encourage the proposal of candidate medicines for consideration for support from the Medicines Repurposing Programme. The multi-agency Medicines Repurposing Programme identifies and progresses opportunities to use existing medicines in ways not included in the current licence. The work includes horizon scanning for trials in rare diseases such as epidermolysis bullosa (EB). The eligibility criteria and proposal form are available on request from england.repurposing@nhs.net.NHS England is aware from routine horizon scanning that a number of innovative treatments for EB are either in trials or being considered by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). NHS England is working with NICE on the evaluation of two products for EB, birch bark extract for skin wounds and the gene therapy Beremagene geperpavec. If any of these treatments are given a positive recommendation by NICE, NHS England will ensure that service provision is in place to deliver these treatments in line with the terms of the NICE mandate.

Neuromuscular Disorders: Health Services

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure the  NHS workforce plan meets the needs of people with (a) Parkinson's disease and (b) other long-term neurological conditions.

Helen Whately: To support the workforce as a whole we have commissioned NHS England to develop a Long Term Workforce Plan, which will include independently verified forecasts for the number of healthcare professionals required in future years. The Plan is for the whole of the National Health Service workforce, including those working with patients with Parkinson’s disease and other long-term neurological conditions.

Parkinson's Disease: Accident and Emergency Departments

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the level of avoidable A&E admissions of people with Parkinson's disease in (a) the area of the South West London Integrated Care System and (b) England; and if he will make a statement.

Helen Whately: No specific estimate has been made. Once diagnosed, and with a management strategy in place, the majority of people with Parkinson’s disease can be cared for through routine access to primary and secondary care.

Radiotherapy: Standards

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he will take to improve radiotherapy cancer treatment (a) capacity and (b) access.

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure linear accelerator machines used in NHS Trusts are replaced once they are beyond their 10-year recommended lifespan.

Helen Whately: The National Health Service continues its rollout of evidence-based, cutting-edge radiotherapy treatments, such as the highly precise stereotactic radiotherapy, which can target tumours and spare surrounding tissue. Due to its accuracy, patients require less frequent hospital trips compared to traditional radiotherapy. Other revolutionary treatments, such as proton beam therapy and hypofractionation, are also improving patient experience and clinical outcomes.The 2021 Spending Review set aside £12 billion in operational capital for the NHS from 2022 to 2025, which local systems can spend on radiotherapy equipment, including linear accelerator machines. Reforms to the national Tariff are planned from 2024/25 to incentivise equipment replacement as well as the provision of cutting-edge treatments and best practice care.

Cancer: Health Services

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the Cancer Waiting Time statistics for February published on 13 April 2023.

Helen Whately: The Department has not made a specific assessment of the February 2023 Cancer Waiting Times statistics. However, the Department and NHS England regularly monitor cancer waiting times to support the National Health Service to deliver the cancer ambitions set out in the Elective Recovery Plan.

Automated External Defibrillators Fund: Aldridge-Brownhills

Wendy Morton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Automated External Defibrillator Fund will be made available in (a) Aldridge-Brownhills constituency and (b) the UK.

Helen Whately: The Department is currently in the pre-procurement stage in its process of determining a selected partner for the Automated External Defibrillator Fund. A typical procurement that is compliant with the Public Contract Regulations 2015 can take between three and six months depending on the procurement route chosen.The Department will publish in due course an invitation to bid for the fund through GOV.UK. The invitation will be open to all interested organisations including any in the Aldridge-Brownhills constituency.

Care Workers

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure retention of care workers in the sector.

Helen Whately: On 4 April, we published our plans for investing £250 million into workforce reforms to improve career progression and access to learning and development opportunities, in order to help reduce turnover. We will continue to engage with care commissioners and employers to consider how best to support workforce retention and recruitment.

Dermatology: South East

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of dermatology patients started treatment within 18 weeks of referral in in (a) North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust and (b) the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust.

Helen Whately: The percentage of dermatology patients starting treatment within 18 weeks of referral in North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust is 80.08%, and within the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust is 62.33%.

Pigmeat: Standards

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the (a) source of sub-standard pork in the food chain; (b) type and (c) level of resulting contamination.

Neil O'Brien: All pork meat sold in the United Kingdom should originate from either approved slaughterhouses or from imported meat that has entered the UK through approved channels.The Food Standards Agency is present in all pig abattoirs in England and Wales, where every pig slaughtered is subject to ante and post-mortem inspection and responds to food safety incidents and foodborne outbreaks, working with local authorities and industry to remove from the market products that are not in compliance with safety legislation.In the most recent full reporting year, 2021/22, 46 incidents and outbreaks involving pork and pork products were reported to the Agency and removed from the market, most of these due to contamination with Salmonella.The Food Standards Agency works with Port Health Authorities and the Animal and Plant Health Agency to apply controls at border control posts. The levels of non-compliance identified in relation to imported pork products remain low. Between 1 January 2022 and the present, six consignments of pork from non-EU countries have been rejected.In addition to these controls on Rest of World imports, recent surveillance at the UK border and at retail premises on EU imports has identified some pork meat products that did not meet the UK import requirements and these incidents have been resolved through recall and removal from the market.

Dental Services: Enfield

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve the availability of dental appointments in (a) Enfield North constituency and (b) the London Borough of Enfield.

Neil O'Brien: In July 2022, we announced a package of improvements to the National Health Service dental system which will improve access for patients, better target patients with greater oral health needs and make NHS dentistry more attractive for dentists and their teams to work in. The changes also included a requirement for NHS Dentists to keep their NHS.UK profiles up to date so that patients can find a dentist more easily. This includes information on whether they are accepting new patients.We have taken action to implement these changes, including through regulations and contract changes that came into effect towards the end of 2022. NHS England have published additional guidance for dentists and commissioners as part of this package.NHS England is holding further discussions with the British Dental Association and other stakeholders for additional reforms of the NHS Dental System planned to take place this year.

Dental Services

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of (a) adults and (b) children have seen a (i) a private dentist and (ii) an NHS dentist in each of the last 5 years.

Neil O'Brien: NHS Digital publishes Dental Statistics for England, which is available from the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-dental-statistics/2021-22-annual-reportThe following table shows data on the percentage of adults and children seen by dentists for National Health Service treatment in the 12- or 24-month periods to June over the last five years. Figures for 2022/23 are not yet available. Information for private dentistry is also not available.Official guidance states that adults with good oral healthcare should be seen by a dentist once every 24 months and that children should be seen by a dentist once every 12 months. Therefore, the data is published in this format, so that the number of adults regularly visiting their dentist can be shown.YearPercentage of adults seen in previous 24 months to June of each year.Percentage of children seen by an NHS dentist, in previous 12 months to June of each year201851%59%201950%59%202048%53%202141%33%202237%46% Note: The data shows that in 2022, 16,409,636 adults were seen in the previous 24 months, and 5,589,201 children were seen in the previous 12 months.

Hospitals: Discharges

Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much of the £250 million initiative to speed up hospital discharges announced on 9 January 2023 has been spent.

Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the press notice entitled Up to £250 million to speed up hospital discharge, published by his Department on 9 January 2023, how this money has been spent.

Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which (a) NHS trusts and (b) local authorities have received funding from the £250 million initiative to speed up hospital discharges announced on 9 January 2023; and how much each of those bodies received.

Helen Whately: The £200 million discharge funding is specifically to fund short-term National Health Service step-down care packages. Integrated care boards (ICBs), working closely with local authorities, are using this to purchase places in care homes and other settings, such as hospices, as well as to help fund wrap-around primary and community health services to support patients’ recovery. The fund is held centrally by NHS England and allocated to ICBs on a Fair Shares basis. ICB allocations were published on 13 January and are available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/PRN00124-ii-Hospital-discharge-fund-guidance.pdfThe £50 million in capital funding has been awarded to NHS trusts to provide expanded spaces that can handle larger volumes of patients, such as hospital discharge lounges and ambulance hubs. We will publish data on this after the pre-election period. We will make the hon. Member aware when this data is published.

Social Services: Staff

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that social care capacity is covered in his workforce plan.

Helen Whately: To support the workforce as a whole, we have commissioned NHS England to develop a NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, including projections for the number of health professionals required in the future. Whilst this is not a workforce plan for Adult Social Care, the Plan will consider regulated health professionals in adult social care.

Hospitals: Finance

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding each local NHS Trust and Integrated care system promised a new hospital as part of the New Hospital programme has received.

Will Quince: Under section 40 of the NHS Act 2006, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is required to report all financial assistance given to trusts. The latest report is available at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1131791/s40-report-2021-2022.pdfInformation on financial assistance for trusts specifically for the New Hospital Programme is on page 39 and 40. Figures for 2022/23 will be published in the next report on Financial Assistance under Section 40 of the National Health Service Act 2006.NHS England are responsible for determining allocations of financial resources to integrated care boards from April 2023, taking over the functions previously held by clinical commissioning groups. Details on current and previous allocations are available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/allocations/

Care Homes: Air Pollution

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to help to ensure indoor air quality in care homes poses a low risk to health.

Helen Whately: Ventilation is an important infection prevention and control measure which can reduce the risk of infections spreading by diluting and dispersing the pathogens which cause them. We have worked with experts and published guidance on ventilation of indoor spaces as well as additional information for care homes.

Care Homes: Heating

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to help to ensure temperatures in care home are (a) regularly recorded and (b) regulated.

Helen Whately: We work closely with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) who ensure the quality of adult social care. CQC do not set specific expectations on temperature in care homes and therefore do not record any data on temperature. However, under Regulation 15, Premises and Equipment, CQC make sure that the premises where care and treatment are delivered are clean, suitable for the intended purpose, maintained and, where required, appropriately located. Should CQC identify any issues with temperature as part of their regulatory approach they can take action to prevent people coming to harm.

Home Care Services: Care Workers

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the impact of paying home care workers by the minute on the quality of care provided by that workforce.

Helen Whately: We have no current plans to make a specific assessment.

Social Workers

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department collects on the caseloads of social care workers in each local authority.

Helen Whately: The Department does not measure the caseloads of social care workers.

Social Workers: Vacancies

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of needs of social care workers in each local authority.

Helen Whately: No assessment has been made.

Social Workers: Vacancies

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department collects on the provision of social care workers compared to the population of local authorities.

Helen Whately: Skills for Care publishes estimates of filled posts in adult social care and the Office for National Statistics publishes estimates of population size at local authority level. However, the Department does not make an assessment on the sufficiency of current workforce capacity in each local authority. Local authorities should work with care providers to meet care needs in their area.

Social Workers: Vacancies

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department routinely collects on shortages of social care workers in each local authority.

Helen Whately: Skills for Care collect data on advertised vacancies on behalf of the Department and publish vacancy estimates. Vacancy rates in the care sector are determined by natural churn, independent providers’ ambitions to grow, demand for care, trends in the wider labour market and workforce capacity pressures. As a result, vacancies may not be a good measure of workforce shortages and are not used as such by the Department.

Social Services: Career Development

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to develop a career structure for social care staff.

Helen Whately: On 4 April 2023, the Government published the plan Next Steps to put People at the Heart of Care. In the plan we announced that we will launch a new Care Workforce Pathway for Adult Social Care workers, which will support development and provide a career structure.

Home Care Services: Pay

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the impact of paying home care workers by the minute on workforce retention and staff morale.

Helen Whately: We have no current plans to make a specific assessment.

Musculoskeletal Disorders: Health Services

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of people waiting for community musculoskeletal services were provided with an appointment within (a) four and (b) 12 weeks of referral in the past year.

Helen Whately: NHS England does not hold data on how many people waiting for community musculoskeletal services were provided with an appointment within a certain time of referral in the past year.

Allergies

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) prevent, (b) improve treatment for and (c) promote awareness of allergies.

Helen Whately: The majority of services for people living with allergies are commissioned locally through integrated care boards. However, to support and improve treatment for patients with more complex allergic conditions, NHS England commissions some specialised services, including specialist allergy clinics. There is an established Clinical Reference Group responsible for providing national clinical leadership for specialised immunology and allergy services.To help promote awareness of allergies, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published guidance on a range of allergy conditions. NICE promotes its guidance via its website, newsletters and other media.The Food Standards Agency also works to raise awareness of food hypersensitivity, and has carried out several campaigns aimed at supporting both people with food hypersensitivities and food businesses.

Social Services: Standards

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the capacity of the social care sector to (a) support hospital discharges and (b) provide transitional care.

Helen Whately: As part of planning how they will use the Better Care Fund, all local authorities and National Health Service integrated care boards have been asked to assess capacity and demand for intermediate care services and other short-term care in 2023/24. Local plans are due to be submitted to the national Better Care Fund programme at the end of June.The Department provided £700 million in winter 2022/23 to support hospital discharges and is providing a further £600 million in 2023/24. An evaluation of the impact of the funding delivered in 2022/23 is underway.NHS England has begun to develop and pilot a new approach to intermediate care, including rehabilitation and reablement support. Initial learning emerging from the pilot sites will be available by April 2023 and will inform the development of a new planning framework and national standard for rapid discharge into intermediate care by autumn 2023.

Home Care Services: Pay

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 205 of the third report of the Health and Social Care Committee entitled Workforce: recruitment, training and retention in health and social care, published on 25 July 2022, HC 115, what progress he has made on ensuring that the home care workforce receives at least minimum wage including travel time.

Helen Whately: All businesses, irrespective of their size or business sector, are responsible for paying the correct National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage to their staff.If any care worker is concerned that they are being underpaid, including because of unpaid travel time, we strongly urge them to call the Acas helpline for free, impartial and confidential advice about their rights and entitlements. Acas officers will pass on cases to HM Revenue and Customs for further consideration where appropriate. Workers can also contact HM Revenue and Customs directly using the online form.

Multiple Sclerosis

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help increase public understanding of multiple sclerosis .

Helen Whately: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published specific guidance to improve awareness and understanding about multiple sclerosis, as well as guidance on suspected neurological conditions more broadly.NICE promotes its guidance via its website, newsletters and other media.

Home Office

Refugees: Afghanistan

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will increase the number of places in Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme Pathway 3.

Robert Jenrick: Under the first stage of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) Pathway 3, we are offering resettlement places to up to 1,500 eligible individuals from the three identified cohorts which are British Council contractors, GardaWorld contractors and Chevening alumni.We recognise there are many vulnerable individuals who remain in Afghanistan and the region. However, it is important we take into account the capacity of the UK to resettle people is not unlimited and difficult decisions have to be made on who will be prioritised for resettlement.

Refugees: Families

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure family reunion applications made by people from Iran at risk of persecution are processed in a timely way.

Robert Jenrick: It is our long established policy to prioritise applications where there is a particularly urgent or compelling reasons to do so.

Visas: Biometrics

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2023 to Question 130066 on Biometrics visa exemptions, what the procedure is for a person to be excused or deferred from having to enrol their biometric information where the case has been determined as urgent.

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2023 to Question 130066 on Biometrics visa exemptions, how her Department defines an urgent request for a person to be excused or deferred from having to enrol their biometric information.

Robert Jenrick: In most circumstances we require biometrics from everyone who applies for a visa or a biometric residence permit to ensure we protect our national security.Where applicants have contacted UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) to say they are unable to travel to a Visa Application Centre (VAC) to enrol their biometrics, we write to them to explain how they can request an urgent consideration on whether we would predetermine their application or waive the requirement for them to attend a VAC. UKVI will assess the applicant’s particular circumstances to determine whether they are particularly exceptional so that their request requires urgent consideration based on the evidence they provide. Where a request is deemed urgent, they will contact the applicant within 28 days of receipt of their request. If the request is considered to be urgent it will be assessed in line with the published biometric enrolment guidance.

Refugees: Biometrics

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is her policy that biometric tests are not mandatory for people seeking legal and safe entry to the UK.

Robert Jenrick: In most circumstances we require biometrics, in the form of a facial image and fingerprints, from everyone who applies for a visa or a biometric residence permit, including people using safe and legal routes to come to the UK. Moreover, the UK’s forthcoming Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme will also require applicants to provide their biometrics as part of the application form, starting with facial images from the offset, until there is a technological solution which will allow applicants to self-upload fingerprints of the required quality.

Refugees: Families

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Home Office response to report on re-inspection of family reunion applications, published on 21 February 2023, and the accepted recommendation from the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) to dedicate staffing resource to urgently address the work in progress (WIP) prioritising family reunion applications from children separated from both parents, how many full time equivalent decision maker posts (a) are already in place for family reunion applications and (b) will be created to implement that recommendation.

Robert Jenrick: The Secretary of State for the Home Department has fully accepted all the recommendations made in the report by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration regarding family reunion applications.Following the recommendations made, the department has already undertaken a review of its’ resourcing for consideration of Family Reunion visa applications, and we are currently in the process of increasing number of decision makers to speed up processing times.Since 2015 we have granted approximately 45,000 family reunion visas to the family members of refugees. We prioritise all applications where the application has been made by an unaccompanied child, under the age of 18. We will also prioritise applications where there is an evidenced urgent or compelling reason to do so.

Asylum: Questionnaires

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum claim questionnaires have been sent to claimants since 22 February 2023.

Robert Jenrick: The exact number of asylum questionnaires which have been sent and returned under the streamlined process is not information currently held in a reportable format.

Asylum: Housing

Damien Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of housing aylum seekers on the local economies of towns which have received levelling up funding.

Damien Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has made an assessment of the impact of housing asylum seekers on the economies of towns due to receive levelling up funding.

Robert Jenrick: Under the Immigration & Asylum Act 1999, the Home Office has a statutory obligation to provide asylum seekers, who would otherwise be destitute, with accommodation and support whilst their claim is under consideration.The record number of people that have crossed the Channel in small boats in recent years has placed the Home Office’s asylum support infrastructure and accommodation services under immense pressure. The enduring solution is to stop the boats and that is why the government has brought forward the illegal migration bill alongside a range on non-legislative measures to restore deterrence to the system.Central to our focus is the impact on local communities, including access to public services, community cohesion and public order; delivering value for money for the taxpayer; and reducing pull factors to enter the UK illegally. It is against these criteria that we will consider further contingency accommodation options. In recognition of these pressures the Government has announced an increase in funding for local authorities who help to support asylum seekers and encourage councils to bringaccommodation online more quickly.

Asylum: Questionnaires

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) complete and (b) incomplete Asylum Claim Questionnaires have been received by her Department since 22 February 2023.

Robert Jenrick: The exact number of asylum questionnaires which have been sent and returned under the streamlined process is not information currently held in a reportable format.

Asylum: Questionnaires

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many deadlines for completing asylum claim questionnaires were extended up to and including 20 working days (a) in total, (b) by local authority and (c) by constituency in the period since 22 February 2023.

Robert Jenrick: The exact number of asylum questionnaires under the streamlined process which have had deadline extensions, either in total or within local authorities and constituencies, is not information currently held in a reportable format.

Animal Experiments

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the national statistics entitled Statistics of scientific procedures on living animals, Great Britain: 2021, published by her Department on 30 June 2022, under which regulations the 11,163 lethal dose procedures on mice were carried out as set out in the column entitled Regulatory Use: toxicity and other safety testing including pharmacology acute and sub-toxicity testing methods: LD50 and LC50 purposes.

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the national statistics entitled Statistics of scientific procedures on living animals, Great Britain: 2021, published by her Department on 30 June 2022, under which regulations the 59,586 procedures on mice were carried out as set out in the column entitled Regulatory use: Quality control Batch potency testing; and how many and what proportion of these involved a (a) LD50 and (b) lethal dose test.

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the national statistics entitled Statistics of scientific procedures on living animals, Great Britain: 2021, published by her Department on 30 June 2022, under which regulations the 12,496 procedures on mice were carried out as set out in the column entitled Regulatory use: Quality control Batch safety testing; and how many and what proportion of these involved a (a) LD50 and (b) lethal dose test.

Tom Tugendhat: The Home Office licences programmes of work using animals in science, including testing to satisfy regulatory requirements set out in legislation.Establishments must only conduct work for limited permissible purposes, according to the terms of their licences, which the Home Office assures through audit and inspection processes.The Home Office publishes extensive data on the use of animals in science in the annual national statistics. The statistics do not include data broken down by the specific tests requested.

Asylum: Uganda

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what safe and legal routes her Department has made available to the UK for asylum seekers from Uganda who identify as LGBT.

Robert Jenrick: The UK has a proud history of supporting refugees. Since 2015, we have offered just under half a million people safe and legal routes into the UK.The UK made a generous resettlement offer, with worldwide displacement now standing at around 100 million people, we are unable to make routes available for every eventuality.The UK continues to welcome refugees and people in need through existing resettlement schemes which include the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS), Community Sponsorship, the Mandate Resettlement Scheme, and the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS).Referrals for the UKRS, Community Sponsorship, Mandate Resettlement and Pathway 2 of the ACRS are assessed and submitted by UNHCR. These assessments are based on people’s needs and vulnerabilities and the UK does not seek to influence which cases are referred by UNHCR.

Windrush Compensation Scheme

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason her Department decided not to award grants to Windrush community organisations as part of the community engagement fund in March 2023.

Robert Jenrick: Due to internal delays in assessing bids, the Home Office decided to withdraw the Community Engagement Fund in February 2023. Continuing would have left organisations with very little time to complete projects before the end of the 22/23 financial year.

Asylum: Undocumented Migrants

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum applicants who illegally entered the UK were subsequently identified as having past terrorist links.

Tom Tugendhat: The Home Secretary and law enforcement colleagues have robust powers available to manage any threat illegal entrants may pose, which will include removal where possible and appropriate.All asylum claimants are subject to mandatory security checks against their claimed identity. This is critical to the delivery of a safe and secure immigration system. We are working to strengthen ties with international partners to make vital intelligence sharing more seamless.

Fire Prevention: Equipment

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of equipment available to fight wild fires.

Chris Philp: Each fire and rescue authority is required to identify and plan for the foreseeable risks in their area, including wildfires, in their Integrated Risk Management Plan. In doing so, fire and rescue authorities should ensure they have sufficient and adequate equipment available to respond to the risks they have identified.As part of these plans, fire authorities are required to have regard to the views of other key local responders including agencies such as the Forestry Commission, Natural England and other land owners and emergency services.

Police: Pay

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Government plans to take steps to increase police pay by (a) three, (b) four, (c) five, (d) six and (e) seven per cent.

Chris Philp: The Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) considers and makes recommendations to the Government on the appropriate level of pay and allowances for police officers. The Government values its independent and expert advice.The Home Secretary’s remit letter, issued on 29 November 2022, asks the PRRB to make recommendations for the 2023/24 pay award and to submit its report in May. The Government will give very careful consideration to the Review Body’s recommendations.

Fentanyl: Drug Seizures

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of including separately identifiable seizures of (a) fentanyl and (b) fentanyl analogues in her Department's quarterly publication series entitled Border Force transparency data in line with her Department's annual publication series entitled Seizures of drugs in England and Wales.

Chris Philp: Fentanyl and their analogues are currently included in the quarterly Border Force Transparency data under 'Other Class A' drugs.To ensure alignment with the Seizures of drugs in England and Wales statistics, we intend to show fentanyl seizures separately in the Border Force data from the August 2023 Transparency data publication.

Metals: Theft

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an estimate of the economic cost of metal theft to the UK economy.

Chris Philp: The Scrap Metal Dealers Act (2013) was introduced to reduce metal theft by strengthening regulation of the scrap metal industry.The most recent assessment of the cost of metal theft was at the time of the 2013 Act’s enactment with an estimated cost of £228 million in England and Wales.Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Metals: Licensing

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the number of visits that were carried out by local authority licensing officers to licensed scrap metal dealers in the last 12 months.

Chris Philp: The Home Office does not compile data on the number of visits carried out by local authority licensing officers to licensed scrap metal dealers.

Asylum: Questionnaires

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to guidelines on Streamlined asylum processing published on 23 February 2023, what steps her Department took to inform the offices of hon. Members of plans to require current asylum claimants to complete an Asylum Claim Questionnaire within 20 working days or potentially have their claim treated as withdrawn; for what reason her Department did not directly contact the offices of all hon. Members in advance of the announcement of those requirements; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of those requirements on the ability of asylum claimants to receive appropriate and timely support from their local Member of Parliament.

Robert Jenrick: Extension requests to complete the questionnaire can be submitted and all relevant circumstances will be considered on a case-by-case basis when deciding whether someone’s asylum claim should be withdrawn.

Refugees: Families

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Home Office response to report on re-inspection of family reunion applications, published on 21 February 2023, and the accepted recommendation from the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) to introduce criteria for expediting applications based on vulnerability, when this criteria will be incorporated into family reunion policy guidance.

Robert Jenrick: The Family Reunion guidance was published on 12 April 2023. This introduced a prioritisation process which includes the expedition of all applications from unaccompanied children. Requests for prioritisation from applicants or their representatives will be determined by a manager, who will undertake a holistic consideration of the applicant’s circumstances.We are committed to improving and speeding up processing times for all family reunion applications.

Refugees: Families

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Home Office response to report on re-inspection of family reunion applications, published 21 February 2023, and the accepted recommendation from the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration to implement a mechanism to triage family reunion applications after biometrics have been submitted and before the decision-making stage, when the dedicated team to work on this will be in place.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Secretary has fully accepted all the recommendations made in the report by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration regarding family reunion applications.Following the recommendations made, the Home Office has already undertaken a review of resourcing for consideration of Family Reunion visa applications, and have a dedicated resource to identify, for example, unaccompanied children and prioritise their applications.

Sexual Offences: Prosecutions

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of prosecutions of registered sex offenders who fail to inform the police of their name change in a timely manner.

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of sex offenders who have had restrictions placed on them to prevent them from changing their name through a (a) sexual harm prevention or (b) sexual risk order.

Miss Sarah Dines: The UK has some of the toughest powers in the world to deal with sex offenders and those who pose a risk, and we are committed to ensuring that the system is as robust as it can be.Data on the number of convictions for breaches of the notification requirements for registered sex offenders is published by the Ministry of Justice in the Multi-Agency Public Protection arrangements (MAPPA) annual report, which is available here: MAPPA_Annual_Report_2022.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk). The most recent report showed that the number of offenders cautioned or convicted for breaches of their notification requirements in 2021-2 was 1,905.Data on the number of prosecutions of registered sex offenders who fail to inform the police of their name change the number who have had restrictions placed on them relating to name change are not collated centrally. The courts can, however, place a range of restrictions or requirements on offenders through sexual harm prevention orders and sexual risk orders to mitigate the risk of sexual harm.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Dental Services

Dr Caroline Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK Armed Forces personnel were categorised as NATO Category (a) 2 and (b) 3 on the basis they need dental care or treatment to achieve optimal dental fitness.

Dr Andrew Murrison: As at 1 March 2023 11,451 UK Armed Forces personnel were categorised as NATO Category 2, and 10,687 UK Armed Forces personnel were categorised as NATO Category 3. For UK Defence Dentistry the NATO Dental Fitness Category is interpreted as follows: NATO Dental Fitness Category 2Service Personnel in date for Periodic Dental Inspection who require active interventive or operative dental treatment and whose existing dental condition, in the opinion of the clinician, is unlikely to result in a dental emergency within their defined recall period.. NATO Dental Fitness Category 3Service personnel in date for Periodic Dental Inspection who require active interventive or operative dental treatment and whose dental condition is, in the opinion of the clinician, likely to cause a dental emergency within 12 months. It also includes those previously categorised as NATO Dental Fitness Category 2 who have gone beyond their recall date. The Joint Medical Employment Standard (JMES) awarded by medical staff in order to inform commanders and career managers of the deployability and employability of Service personnel, will be reviewed if the Service person’s oral health status adversely affects their employability or overall health if deployed, or their oral care needs would be difficult to deliver in the deployed environment. The Service person will be graded according to the frequency of the symptoms, requirement for medication and medical support, and degree of functional impairment.

Radioactive Waste: Dalgety Bay

Neale Hanvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when officials from his Department (a) attended and (b) carried out inspections relating to remediation works at Dalgety Bay in each of the last ten years.

James Cartlidge: Ministry of Defence (MOD) officials attend the site at Dalgety Bay on a regular basis. The individual visits are not recorded centrally.Other than during the period of Covid-19 restrictions, in each of the last ten years, Monitoring Survey Inspections of the site have been carried out on a monthy basis on behalf of the MOD, by the specialist consultant company, WSP.

Radioactive Waste: Dalgety Bay

Neale Hanvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) received advice on the potential risks to health from radioactive particles found at Dalgety Bay.

James Cartlidge: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) have internal advisors from the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory who provide advice and support. The risk to health is assessed and enforced by the regulator, Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). Contamination levels and acceptable targets for corrective action were determined by SEPA using criteria established by Public Health England. The agreed corrective action to remove contamination was set out in the management strategy paper developed by SEPA, Fife Council and the MOD.

Veterans: Charities

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, In December past, what discussions he has had with veterans' charities on providing more support to those organisations for supporting veterans in the UK.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Secretary of State for Defence regularly meets with representatives of Service charities on a range of matters. Responsibility for coordination with Service charities to support their work with veterans is a matter for the Office of Veterans’ Affairs in the Cabinet Office.

Defence: Procurement

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much funding (a) the UK and (b) Germany have provided to the Wide Wet Gap Crossing defence procurement project.

James Cartlidge: The Joint UK-German programme to replace the current Wide Wet Gap Crossing capability is yet to commit to contract, so no funding has been provided jointly to date. The associated UK Project, TRITON, has spent £1,543,868 to date on requirements analysis and harmonisation with the German project, Schwimmschnellbrücke 2. We are not in a position to disclose the amount Germany has provided.

Defence

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of any changes agreed by the International Telecommunication Union at the World Radiocommunications Conference in November-December 2023 on the UK's military capabilities.

James Cartlidge: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has a team that engages regularly with the World Radiocommunication Conference process, throughout its four-year lifecycle, to ensure the MOD's views are fully represented. This includes engagement with our NATO and Five Eyes partners. Extensive work is undertaken to understand and assess the impact of any changes on Defence capabilities both before and after regulatory changes have been agreed. We are actively engaging with international partners on the topics for the World Radiocommunication Conference in November-December 2023, to ensure these are acceptable to the UK.

Military Bases: Repairs and Maintenance

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what was the cost of maintenance repairs at (a) Combermere Barracks, (b) Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, (c) Victoria Barracks and (d) Denison Barracks in each month since April 2022; and if he will provide a breakdown of those figures by maintenance issue.

James Cartlidge: Once Ministry of Defence officials have finalised collation of the necessary information I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Military Bases: Repairs and Maintenance

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many callouts have been made to (a) Combermere Barracks, (b) Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, (c) Victoria Barracks and (d) Denison Barracks for maintenance issues in the last 12 months; and if he will provide a breakdown of those figures by maintenance issue.

James Cartlidge: Once Ministry of Defence officials have finalised collation of the necessary information I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Ministry of Defence: Research

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of annual R&D spend by his Department in the financial year (a) 2023-24, (b) 2024-25 and |c) 2025-26.

James Cartlidge: The Department’s most recent estimate for future annual R&D spend for the financial years (FY) requested are as follows: FY 2023-24: £2.6 billionFY 2024-25: £2.5 billionFY 2025-26: £2.5 billion These forecast figures are subject to change, noting that they also extend beyond the Department’s spending review period.

HMS Prince of Wales: Repairs and Maintenance

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of HMS Prince of Wales’ repairs on HMS Queen Elizabeth’s (a) maintenance schedule and (b) operational commitments.

James Cartlidge: There is no impact to HMS Queen Elizabeth's schedule and operational commitments while HMS Prince of Wales conducts repairs and routine maintenance.

HMS Prince of Wales: Repairs and Maintenance

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has had recent discussions with NATO officials on the (a) repairs to HMS Prince of Wales and (b) potential impact of those repairs on the UK's NATO obligations.

James Cartlidge: HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH undertook HMS PRINCE OF WALES’s (PWLS) operational tasking from September to December 2022, whilst maintaining her role as the Very High Readiness Strike Carrier.At all times the Royal Navy has delivered its Carrier commitments to NATO.Ministry of Defence remains committed to ensuring PWLS commences her operational programmes, as planned, in autumn 2023. This will include operational flying training and trials.

Veterans: Proof of Identity

Damien Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that individuals who left the armed services before 2018 and have not been issued a Veterans ID card are able to be issued a card retrospectively.

Dr Andrew Murrison: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 23 March 2023 to Question 169383 to the hon. Member for Canterbury (Ms Duffield).Veterans: Proof of Identity (docx, 18.5KB)

Armed Forces: Pay

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish in full the 2023 reports by the (a) Armed Forces Pay Review Body and (b) Senior Salaries Review Body.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Armed Forces Pay Review Body 2023 annual report will be published in due course on the gov.uk website, as usual. The Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) is an advisory non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Cabinet Office. When, and what, they publish is a matter for that organisation. However, Defence anticipates that they will publish their 2023 annual report on gov.uk, as usual.

Armed Forces: Complaints

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many serving and former military personnel have successfully been awarded compensation for injuries related to (a) hearing loss and (b) other ear, nose, and throat problems due to their service in the Armed Forces in each year since 2010.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The number of awards made under either the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) or the War Pension Scheme (WPS) in relation to ‘other injuries related to the ear, nose and throat (ENT)’ is not held due to the broad nature of this area and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. The below table details the number of the number of claimants that were awarded under the AFCS for hearing loss and the number of claimants who had a first disablement claim awarded under the WPS between 1 April 2010 and 31 March 2022 and were awarded for hearing loss. Please note, these figures should be treated as a minimum. Due to the way data is held second claims or appeals awarded for hearing loss cleared after 1 April 2010 have been excluded. Claimants are only eligible to claim under the WPS once they have left service.   Table 1: Number of claimants awarded under the AFCS for hearing loss1 by financial year2 and Number of claimants that had a first disablement claim cleared under the WPS and were awarded for hearing loss1numbers1 April 2010 – 31 March 2022SchemeFinancial Year2010-112011-122012-132013-142014-152015-16AFCSServing personnel3275292307243174168Former service personnel4335987799566WPSNumber of Claimants1,1969878391,3319171,019SchemeFinancial Year2016-172017-182018-192019-202020-212021-22AFCSServing personnel313211154563330Former service personnel45635201197WPSNumber of Claimants726730568616493586  Sources: Compensation and Pension System (CAPS) and Veterans UK Finance Team1. Hearing loss is awarded under the AFCS Tariff of Injury Tables 7 – Senses. Within this table, there are a number of descriptors for hearing loss which were used to identify relevant awards.2. Presented by financial year in which initial injury/illness claim was registered.3. Include in-service claims and medical discharge claims4. Includes post-service claims5. Claims awarded for hearing loss were identified based on a free text search of the condition claimed for field in WPCS.6. Presented by financial year in which the first disablement claim was cleared. p. There are a number of registered claims from 2017/18 to 2021/22 still awaiting an outcome which may include claims for hearing loss. Information on the conditions claimed for and not available on CAPS prior to a claim being cleared

Armed Forces: Complaints

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many serving and former military personnel claim compensation through his Department for injuries related to (a) hearing loss and (b) other ear, nose, and throat problems due to their service in the Armed Forces.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The number of claimants under either the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) or the War Pension Scheme (WPS) in relation to ‘other injuries related to the ear, nose and throat (ENT)’ is not held due to the broad nature of this area and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. The below table details the number of claimants who registered claims under AFCS and WPS for hearing loss. Please note that for WPS, the table shows the number of claimants who had a first disablement claim registered between 1 April 2010 and 31 March 2022 and claimed for hearing loss. These figures should be treated as a minimum. Due to the way the data is held, first disablement claims registered prior to 1 April 2010 which subsequently had a second/subsequent claim for hearing loss registered after 1 April 2010 have been excluded. Claimants are only eligible to claim under the WPS once they have left service.   Table 1: Number of claimants that registered an injury/illness claim under AFCS1 and WPS for hearing loss5, by financial year2 and 61 April 2010 – 31 March 2022SchemeFinancial Year2010-112011-122012-132013-142014-152015-16AFCSServing personnel3347590356347273269Former service personnel4198281191258280259WPSNumber of Claimants1,3801,2341,3231,3241,081987SchemeFinancial Year2016-172017-182018-192019-202020-212021-22AFCSServing personnel3243230221246145122Former service personnel4205211185210126145WPSNumber of Claimants782766777766386137Sources: Compensation and Pension System (CAPS) and War Pension Computer System (WPCS) 1. Claims made for hearing loss were identified based on a free text search of the conditions claimed for field in CAPS. The condition claimed for is based on information supplied by the claimant and does not necessarily reflect a diagnosis of hearing loss.2. Presented by financial year in which initial injury/illness claim was registered.3. Includes in-service claims and medical discharge claims.4. Includes post-service claims.5. Claims made for hearing loss were identified based on a free text search of the condition claimed for field in WPCS6. Presented by financial year in which the first disablement claim was registered.

Armed Forces: Complaints

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the service complaints process on the mental health of forces personnel who have made a complaint.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Service Complaints process can be stressful and upsetting for all involved. Advice and guidance regarding the wealth of independent support and assistance available to both Complainants and Respondents is published within Joint Service Publication 831 (Redress of Individual Grievances (Service Complaints)). Furthermore, all Complainants and Respondents are entitled to the services of an Assisting Officer whose role is to support and help them throughout the process.

Armed Forces: Complaints

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an estimate of the number and proportion of forces personnel who were eligible to use the service complaints process but chose not to in the last 12 months.

Dr Andrew Murrison: All Service personnel are eligible to use the Service Complaints system. The vast majority chose not to do so, either because they had no complaints or their issues were successfully resolved via another route, such as via informal action or a Special-to-Type complaint.

Armed Forces: Complaints

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment has he made of the level of trust amongst serving forces personnel in the service complaints process.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The best available information on the level of trust amongst serving Armed Forces personnel in the service complaints process is restricted to those who have suffered at least one incident of bullying, harassment or discrimination in the last 12 months. This information can be found in Section 13 of the Reference Tables for the Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey 2022:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1098218/AFCAS_2022_ANNEX_B_Reference_Tables_Excel.xlsx

Armed Forces: Complaints

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what has been the average length of time to resolve special-to-type complaints in each year since 2010.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of Special-to-Type complaints were ruled in favour of the complainant in each year since 2010.

Dr Andrew Murrison: I refer the right hon. Member to the answers I gave him to Question 180993 on 20 April 2023 and Question 181372 on 24 April 2023.Armed Forces Complainta (docx, 17.9KB)Armed Forces Complaints (docx, 17.9KB)

Armed Forces: Complaints

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many complaints were made via the Service Complaints Process in each year since 2010.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The number of complaints made via the Service Complaints process in each year between 2010 and 2015 is not held by the Service Complaints Ombudsman for the Armed Forces (SCOAF). The number of complaints made via the Service Complaints Process was 711 in 2016 and 786 in 2017. The number of complaints made via the Service Complaints process in each year between 2018 and 2022 can be found in table 2.2 of the SCOAF’s Annual Statistical Tables 2022: https://www.scoaf.org.uk/annual-statisticals-tables

Armed Forces: Complaints

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of service complaints were resolved within 24 weeks in each year since 2016.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The number of Service Complaints that were resolved within 24 weeks in each year since 2016 is set out in the table below: YearNumber of Service Complaints resolved within 24 weeks2016220201730920183032019274202024720212152022374  The proportion of Service Complaints that were resolved within 24 weeks was 39 per cent in 2016 and 52 per cent in 2017. The proportion of Service Complaints that were resolved within 24 weeks in each year since 2018 can be found in table 2.11 of the Service Complaints Ombudsman for the Armed Forces’ Annual Statistical Tables 2022: https://www.scoaf.org.uk/annual-statisticals-tables

Service Complaints Ombudsman

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the statutory powers are of the Service Complaints Ombudsman.

Dr Andrew Murrison: A list of the statutory powers can be found on the website of the Service Complaints Ombudsman for the Armed Forces: https://www.scoaf.org.uk/how-can-we-help-you/what-can-ombudsman-do-me Alternatively, they can be found in the Armed Forces (Service Complaints and Financial Assistance) Act 2015: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/19/pdfs/ukpga_20150019_en.pdf

Armed Forces: Compensation

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) serving and (b) former military personnel his Department has confirmed as eligible for compensation from his Department for injuries related to (i) hearing loss and (ii) other ENT issues arising from their service in the Armed Forces.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The number of awards made under either the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) or the War Pension Scheme (WPS) in relation to ‘other injuries related to the ear, nose and throat (ENT)’ is not held due to the broad nature of this area and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.Under the War Pension Scheme (WPS) and the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS), service personnel who medically discharge and meet certain criteria are automatically considered for compensation. Table 1 shows the number of UK Regular Armed Forces medical discharges with hearing loss listed as the principal ICD-10 cause code on the FMed 23 Medical Board Report.Please note that these figures are the minimum number of Veterans eligible, as those claiming for hearing loss may have been medically discharged for another reason. For both AFCS and WPS there are circumstances where hearing loss may be considered as one of a number of contributory causes resulting in medical discharge.Table 1: UK Regular Armed Forces medical discharges with hearing loss listed as the principal ICD-10 cause code, by financial year, numbers1 April 2010 to 31 March 2022,YearRoyal Navy1ArmyRAF2010-11[c]34[c]2011-12306362012-13239992013-1418136102014-15148952015-161851[c]2016-171654[c]2017-182348[c]2018-1993002019-201515[c]2020-2177[c]2021-2212110Sources: Joint Personnel administration System (JPA), FMed 23, Defence Medical Information Capability Programme (DMICP) 1. Includes Royal Navy and Royal Marines2. In line with the JSP 200 directive on statistical disclosure control, numbers fewer than 5 have been suppressed ([c]).

Veterans: Proof of Identity

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress the Government has made on the delivery of the veterans ID card scheme.

Dr Andrew Murrison: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 23 March 2023 to Question 169383 to the hon. Member for Canterbury (Ms Duffield).Veterans: Proof of Identity (docx, 18.5KB)

Ministry of Defence: Staff

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 20 April 2023 to Question 177723 on Ministry of Defence: Staff, when staff in his Department's main building in Whitehall last completed a Leesman office survey; and how many and what proportion of respondents to that survey (a) agreed and (b) disagreed with the statements about their main workplace that (i) it enabled them to work productively, (ii) it supported them sharing ideas and knowledge among colleagues, (iii) it created an enjoyable environment to work in, (iv) it contributed to a sense of community at work and (v) it was a place they were proud to bring visitors to.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Ministry of Defence staff based in Main Building, Whitehall have not participated in any of the Leesman office surveys, however other business units across defence have participated in previous surveys.

France: Minesweepers

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to Answer of 30 March 2023 to Question 172977 on France: Minesweepers, what the (a) initial operating capability and (b) full operating capability of the Mine Hunting Capability Programme is.

James Cartlidge: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer my predecessor, the hon member for Cheltenham (Alex Chalk) gave him on 13 December 2022 to Question 102776.UIN 102776 (docx, 14.3KB)

Military Bases: Repairs and Maintenance

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what was the average time taken to resolve a maintenance request at properties at (a) Combermere Barracks, (b) Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, (c) Victoria Barracks and (d) Denison Barracks in the last 12 months.

James Cartlidge: Once Ministry of Defence officials have finalised collation of the necessary information I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Military Bases: Heating and Water Supply

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many properties at (a) Combermere Barracks, (b) Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, (c) Victoria Barracks and (d) Denison Barracks have been left without (i) heating and (ii) hot water for 24 hours or more as a result of a reported maintenance issue in the last 12 months.

James Cartlidge: Once Ministry of Defence officials have finalised collation of the necessary information I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Armed Forces: Housing

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel were living in grade four single living accommodation at (a) Combermere Barracks, (b) Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, (c) Victoria Barracks and (d) Denison Barracks as of 20 April 2023.

James Cartlidge: Once Ministry of Defence officials have finalised collation of the necessary information I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Germany: Armed Forces

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2023 to Question 156045 on Armed Forces: Germany, how many personnel from the (a) RAF, (b) Army and (c) Navy are training with the German armed forces.

James Heappey: As part of our bilateral relationship UK and Germany offer reciprocal training opportunities within the Armed Forces. As at 24 April 2023, six British military personnel are undertaking training in the German Armed Services: one with the Navy, four with the Army, one with the Air Force.

Russia: Weapons

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of whether British components have been used in Russian weaponry in Ukraine in 2023.

James Heappey: I refer the right hon. Member to my answer of 14 December 2022 to question 105236.Russia: Defence Equipment (docx, 18.2KB)

Afghanistan: Refugees

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2023 to Question 175503 on Home Office: Departmental Responsibilities, when the Minister for Immigration assumed responsibility for the resettlement of the (a) Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme and (b) Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy personnel and their families.

James Heappey: The Home Office has been responsible for the resettlement of ARAP-eligible Afghans to the UK since the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme began. The Afghan Citizen's Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) is a separate scheme and is a Home Office lead.The delivery of Afghan relocation and resettlement under ARAP is a cross-HMG priority with several Departments playing a key role. The Ministry of Defence is responsible for supporting the movement of eligible persons out of Afghanistan and into third countries, assessing eligibility of applications under ARAP, and referring eligible persons with a defence connection to charitable partners for Operation NEWHOPE support.

USA: Cluster Munitions

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department holds on whether the US military holds cluster munitions at its bases in the UK.

James Heappey: The UK does not comment on the presence or storage of US weapons for security reasons. The UK is a State Party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), and we take our obligations seriously.

Ukraine: Armed Forces

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the rules of engagement are for UK military personnel in Ukraine.

James Heappey: For operational and personnel security reasons we do not comment on specific rules of engagement.

Ukraine: Armed Forces

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2022 to Question 13255, why 97 military personnel were in Ukraine on that date.

James Heappey: Armed Forces personnel were in Ukraine to support the UK’s diplomatic presence in the country.

Ukraine: Armed Forces

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Ministry of Defence personnel have deployed to Ukraine since Russia's invasion on 24 February 2022.

James Heappey: Armed Forces personnel remain in Ukraine to support the UK’s diplomatic presence in the country, and our training offer to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Ukraine: Armed Forces

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether UK military personnel in Ukraine have given any advice or assistance to the Azov Battalion since 24 February 2022.

James Heappey: No.

Ukraine: Armed Forces

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether UK military personnel in Ukraine have advised on operations to retake the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.

James Heappey: We support all efforts to reduce the risks to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant caused by Russia's illegal invasion and praise the IAEA's work to ensure security at the nuclear power plant. It is the wilful disregard of international law and the continued military presence by Russia that has put Ukrainian nuclear facilities at risk - endangering local populations, the wider region and the entire international community.

Ukraine: Armed Forces

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what rank is the most senior UK military officer in Ukraine.

James Heappey: The UK Defence Attaché to Ukraine is a 1 Star UK military position.

Ukraine: Armed Forces

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether UK military personnel in Ukraine are advising on combat operations.

James Heappey: Armed Forces personnel remain in Ukraine to support the UK’s diplomatic presence in the country, and our training offer to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Ukraine: Armed Forces

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether 50 elite UK military personnel were in Ukraine on 1 March 2023.

James Heappey: The United Kingdom does not recognise the term ‘elite’ as a formal description of any type of UK troops.

Women and Equalities

Question

Chi Onwurah: Whether she is taking steps to help ensure that the use of artificial intelligence systems does not increase the risk of discrimination against people with protected characteristics.

Kemi Badenoch: We are committed to harnessing the huge potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve people’s lives. That’s why we’re making sure British values, rules and know-how are at the heart of safe AI that will benefit us all.Our AI White Paper set out that:all uses of AI in the UK must comply with the Equality Act;regulators should look to key principles such as fairness, accountability, contestability and redress when making sure that the use of AI is safe.I am also continuing to drive implementation of the Inclusive Britain Action Plan’s commitments to guard against bias in AI.

Question

Charlotte Nichols: What recent assessment she has made of the impact of increases in the cost of living on disabled people.

Tom Pursglove: This Government understands the impact of the rising cost of living on disabled people, which is why over 6 million people will receive the £150 disability cost of living payments, and 60% of these households will be entitled to additional means-tested cost of living payments worth up to £900.

Budget March 2023: Equality

Fleur Anderson: What discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the equality impact of the Spring Budget 2023.

Stuart Andrew: Providing increased opportunities for all, including the most vulnerable in society, has been at the centre of the decisions taken at Spring Budget 2023. Older people, women, individuals from ethnically diverse backgrounds and disabled people are amongst those who will benefit from the actions taken, demonstrating this Government’s belief in fairness and equality of opportunity.In developing proposals for the Spring Budget, the Treasury takes care to consider the equality impacts on those sharing protected characteristics, including gender, race, and disability, in line with both its legal obligations and this Government’s strong commitment to promoting fairness.

STEM Subjects: Employment

Selaine Saxby: What steps she is taking to help support women into science, technology, engineering and mathematics jobs.

Maria Caulfield: We’ve made great progress in increasing the number of girls studying STEM subjects but we need to do more to get women into STEM jobs. To support this, we have launched a new STEM returners programme to refresh and grow the skills of people who have taken career breaks to care for others. The first cohort of returners will begin training this May.

Advocacy: Women

Paul Maynard: What recent steps the Government has taken to help support women's advocacy groups and charities in local communities.

Maria Caulfield: Local advocacy groups and charities provide excellent services and are vital in supporting communities. Since the autumn statement of 2015, the Government has awarded up to £86.25m from the Tampon Tax Fund. The funding has been delivered to not-for-profit organisations running life-changing projects for women and girls across the UK.For example the Fund has supported the work of the Labyrinth Project, run by Solace. This has:engaged with over 600 women’s centres and spaces,trained over 2,000 professionals and volunteers to improve legal, financial and employment support for women, anddirectly funded 41 small to medium women’s groups and organisations.

Women: Prisoners

Kenny MacAskill: What recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Justice on the protection of women's rights on the female prison estate.

Damian Hinds: In January we published our Female Offender Strategy Delivery Plan, including commitments on delivering both better outcomes and better physical conditions for women in custody. The Delivery Plan emphasises the importance of a trauma informed and responsive approach to effectively meet the needs of women in the female prison estate.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Elections: ICT

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to ensure the security of IT used in elections.

Dehenna Davison: The Government is committed to safeguarding democracy and has established the Defending Democracy Taskforce, which has a mandate to safeguard our democratic institutions and electoral processes.Whilst elections continue to be delivered in a traditional manner - with electors voting with pencil and paper - the supporting infrastructure uses digital systems. The Register to Vote on-line service undergoes regular security and accessibility checks.Through the Defending Democracy Taskforce, this department works closely with the National Cyber Security Centre to provide guidance and support relating to the risks of election-related cyber-attacks to local authorities and their suppliers, as well as to political parties.

Elections: Proof of Identity

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, for what reason a young person's railcard is not valid for use in local and national elections as voter ID; and if he will take steps to make the young person's railcard a valid form of voter ID.

Dehenna Davison: The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Rented Housing: Liverpool

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of solicitors in the Liverpool City Region advising social housing tenants to pursue legal action against landlords rather than escalating issues through the usual channels.

Dehenna Davison: Ensuring that social housing residents are able to fix their problems is a priority for the Government. Residents should make use of their landlord's complaints process to resolve issues but where that is not sufficient to resolve the problem residents should contact the Housing Ombudsman, which provides free, impartial and independent advice and support. Whilst the Ombudsman can be an alternative to the use of the legal system, in some instances residents may choose to make use of the courts or tribunal to resolve issues.In response to the tragic case of Awaab Ishak, the Secretary of State wrote to law firms in December last year asking legal bodies to promote the use of the Housing Ombudsman to social housing residents who had concerns about their housing. A copy of that letter is available on gov.ukIf the Hon. Member has some information he would like the Department to examine, I would be grateful if he could send it to my private office.

Social Rented Housing: Standards

Damien Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department has taken to ensure accommodation owned by social housing landlords meet the Decent Homes Standard.

Dehenna Davison: All social housing landlords are responsible for ensuring they provide safe and decent homes.The Regulator of Social Housing's Home Standard requires all registered providers to meet the existing Decent Homes Standard and have an appropriate approach to repairs and maintenance. In line with the Regulator's current remit in relation to consumer regulation, where the regulator receives referrals in relation to the Home standard, it assesses them as part of its consumer regulation processes, engaging with the provider to seek further information on the issues reported to them. Following an investigation, where the Regulator finds that a breach (or potential breach) of the consumer standards has resulted in, or could result in, serious detriment to tenants (or potential tenants), it publishes a regulatory notice setting out its findings.Through the Social Housing Regulation Bill, we are facilitating the introduction of proactive consumer regulation, meaning the Regulator will proactively seek assurances that providers are meeting the standards, including through regular inspections of large providers. We are also lowering the threshold for the Regulator's use of enforcement powers following breaches of the consumer standards.

Parking: Codes of Practice

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to reintroduce the Private Parking Code of Practice.

Dehenna Davison: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 155257 on 8 March 2023.

Levelling Up Fund

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to open applications for the Levelling Up Fund Round 3.

Dehenna Davison: Further announcements will be made in the usual way.

Temporary Accommodation

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many people are located in temporary accommodation because they are unable to be offered a permanent property due to rent arrears.

Felicity Buchan: The latest statutory homelessness statistics for July to September 2022 can be found here.

Council Tax

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the level of council tax increases.

Lee Rowley: Council tax decisions are and have always been for local authorities to take, but the Government maintains a referendum thresholds so that residents can have the final say over excessive increases. Each council is responsible for designing its own Local Council Tax Support scheme to provide help to council tax payers who might otherwise struggle to pay their bills. The Government has also provided councils with £100 million of additional funding to help vulnerable households with their bills in 2023-24.

Travellers: Caravan Sites

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure local authorities are meeting the accommodation needs of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community.

Lee Rowley: Specific planning policies for traveller sites are set out in the Planning Policy for Traveller Sites document which should be read in conjunction with the National Planning Policy Framework. Local authorities are best placed to make decisions about the number and location of such sites locally, having had due regard to national policy and local circumstances.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Water Supply: Fees and Charges

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the impact of the increases in the cost of living on the number of households in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England that have fallen into arrears with their water supplier.

Rebecca Pow: Every five years, Ofwat scrutinises each water company’s business plan to ensure value for customer money and sets an overall cap on the total amount that each company may recover from their customers, through a process called the Price Review. Each year, water companies must publish their charges, setting out the basis on which they will charge their customers within the cap set by Ofwat. This year’s increase in water charges relates primarily to the increase in the rate of inflation and subsequent increases to the water companies’ costs as a result of this. These costs and adjustments are in line with the revenue controls set by Ofwat for all water companies. Severn Trent Water’s customers saw their average combined bill for a household in-crease by 7.2% and the average yearly water and sewerage bills in England and Wales increase by 7.5%. We do not track households that have fallen into arrears with their water bill payments, this would be undertaken by water companies. However, I am very mindful that consumers are concerned about their bills. All water companies offer WaterSure and social tariffs to help reduce bills for households who struggle to pay their bills in full. Water companies also offer a range of financial support measures to assist households to better manage their budgets and provide flexible payments including payment holidays, bill matching, benefit entitlement checks and money/debt advice referral arrangements. Government expects water companies to continue to actively engage with households and inform them of support measures they offer. I encourage customers to access the Consumer Council for Water’s Advice Hub, which has information and useful tools to help customers reduce their bills or access financial support. To support people with the cost of living, Government have put in place a substantial package of support. Further information can be found here: Cost of living support - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Swimming

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the laboratories used to test Bathing Water quality hold UKAS ISO 17025 accreditation.

Rebecca Pow: The Environment Agency’s Starcross laboratory which analyses all of the English bathing water samples holds UKAS ISO 17025 accreditation.

Swimming

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many laboratories are contracted to undertake the testing of water quality for Bathing Water designated sites.

Rebecca Pow: All English bathing water samples are analysed by the Environment Agency’s Starcross laboratory.

Food Banks

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the impact of food price inflation on the demand for emergency parcels from food banks in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England.

Mark Spencer: We recognise the impact of rising food prices, which are occurring as a result of Putin's illegal war in Ukraine and the aftershocks of the pandemic are having a global impact, with food prices rising at home and abroad. We are keeping the market situation under review through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group, which monitors all key agricultural commodities. March 2023 food price inflation was 19.2%, an increase compared to February 2023 when it was 18.2%. Industry analyst expectations are that we are either at or very close to the food price inflation peak. They then expect food price inflation to gradually decrease over the remainder of 2023.This means that food prices are expected to still increase, but at a slower rate than before. That’s why tackling inflation is this government’s number one priority, with a plan to more than halve inflation this year, and we’re monitoring all key agricultural commodities so that we can work with the food industry to address the challenges they face. Foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations and HM Government does not have any role in their operation. There is no consistent and accurate measure of foodbank usage at a constituency or national level. We understand the data limitations in this area, and therefore the Department for Work and Pensions introduced a set of questions into the Family Resources Survey to measure and track food bank usage. The first results, published last week, will help Government to understand more about the characteristics of people most in need and will shape Government to support the most vulnerable. Latest statistics from DWPs Family Resources Survey show that in 2021/22, 93% of households in the UK were food secure (88% have high food security and 6% have marginal food security), virtually unchanged compared to 93% in 2020/21. DEFRA has also increased our engagement with industry to supplement our analysis with real time intelligence. Defra will continue to work with food retailers and producers to explore the range of measures they can take to ensure the availability of affordable food. For example, by maintaining value ranges, price matching and price freezing measures.

Sustainable Farming Incentive: Enfield North

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many farms in Enfield North constituency are part of the Sustainable Farming Incentive.

Mark Spencer: As of 21 April 2023 there is one farm in Enfield North that has a Sustainable Farming Incentive agreement.

Countryside Stewardship Scheme: Enfield North

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many farms in Enfield North constituency are part of Countryside Stewardship scheme.

Mark Spencer: As of 21 April 2023 there are two farms in Enfield North that have Countryside Stewardship agreements.

Pigs: Animal Welfare

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of the treatment of pigs on industrial farms; and whether she has had recent discussions with (a) World Animal Protection and (b) other animal welfare advocacy organisations on the treatment of pigs on those farms.

Mark Spencer: All pig farms regardless of scale, must comply with relevant legislation, including comprehensive animal welfare rules concerning how pigs must be kept.In addition to the animal health and welfare legislation, Defra has a Code of Practice for the Welfare of Pigs updated in 2020, which farmers are required by law to have access to and be familiar with, which encourages high standards of husbandry. A full public consultation was held as part of the code development and work on updating the code included discussion with a wide range of interested parties. There have been no recent discussions with World Animal Protection and other animal welfare advocacy organisations.

Food Supply

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of food security.

Mark Spencer: The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the Covid-19 response. It is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption. Our high degree of food security is built on supply from diverse sources; strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 61% of all the food we need, and 74% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year, and these figures have changed little over the last 20 years. UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply. Recognising the importance of food security, in the Agriculture Act 2020, the Government made a commitment to produce an assessment of our food security at least once every three years. The first UK Food Security Report was published in December 2021. It recognises the contribution made by British farmers to our resilience and considers the UK's food supply sources overall, noting that domestic production and diversity of supply are both important to our food security. The next Food Security Report will be published in 2024.

Coeliac Disease: Food

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support people with coeliac disease, in the context of rises in food prices.

Mark Spencer: We recognise the impact of rising food prices, which are occurring as a result of Putin's illegal war in Ukraine and the aftershocks of the pandemic which are having a global impact, with food prices rising at home and abroad. We are keeping the market situation under review through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group, which monitors all key agricultural commodities. March 2023 food price inflation was 19.2%, an increase compared with February 2023 when it was 18.2%. Industry analyst expectations are that we are either at or very close to the food price inflation peak. They then expect food price inflation to decrease gradually over the remainder of 2023.This means that food prices are expected still to increase, but at a slower rate than before. That is why tackling inflation is this Government’s number one priority, with a plan to reduce inflation by more than half this year, and we are monitoring all key agricultural commodities so that we can work with the food industry to address the challenges they face. We understand that people are worried about the cost-of-living challenges ahead, which is why the Government has announced decisive action to support households. To protect the most vulnerable from the worst of cost-of-living pressures, the Chancellor recently announced a package of targeted support worth £26 billion, which includes continued support for rising energy bills. Coeliac disease is caused by an adverse reaction to gluten, which is a dietary protein found in three types of cereal: wheat, barley and rye. There is no cure for coeliac disease but following a gluten-free diet should help control symptoms and prevent the long-term complications of the condition. Most people with coeliac disease can be cared for through routine access to primary and secondary care, which Integrated Commissioning Boards are responsible for commissioning at a local level. NHS England commissions the specialised elements of coeliac care to ensure that people with more complex health needs receive the best possible care. Gluten free foods can be prescribed through Primary Care. Approximately 89% of prescription items (including food specific|) are currently dispensed free of charge and there are a wide range of exemptions from prescription charges already in place for with the greatest need. In addition, those on a low income can apply for additional support through the NHS Low Income Scheme. This provides both full and partial help with a range of health costs, not just prescription charges. Those who do not qualify for low-income help may benefit from the purchase for prescription pre-payment certificate. This caps the cost of prescriptions at £111.60 per year, helping people to get all the medicines they need for just over £2 a week.

Agriculture: Young People

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to encourage young people to work in the agriculture industry.

Mark Spencer: Attracting bright new talent that is diverse and inclusive into agricultural and horticultural careers and having a skilled workforce in place is vital for the future of UK food and farming. We want to raise awareness of agriculture and horticulture as an exciting and attractive career path, and of the incredible range of opportunities available to them in the farming and land management industry. The Government is contributing towards the establishment of a new professional body, The Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture (TIAH). This initiative is aimed at removing the fragmentation that exists within the current learning and skills landscape for farming businesses, enabling the industry to drive forward greater uptake of skills, creating clear career development pathways and promoting the sector as a progressive, professional and attractive career choice. The Government is also reforming post-16 technical education to provide clearer routes into skilled employment in agriculture and other sectors. A key part of this is the introduction of the new Technical Level programmes (T-levels) which include pathways in agriculture, environmental and animal health and care. Alongside apprenticeships this provides more opportunities and pathways for young people looking for careers in agriculture and horticulture.

Food

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what account her Department takes in the formulation of food policy of (a) reducing the carbon footprint of food produced and (b) educational research within the industry.

Mark Spencer: Delivering a sustainable and nature positive food system that helps us to meet our climate and environmental goals is a priority for Defra. We have recently launched the Food Data Transparency Partnership (FDTP) which will focus on improving the measurement and communication of supply chain greenhouse gas emissions for the food and drink sector. This will enable the sector to better target efforts to reduce emissions. The FDTP will also develop a mandatory methodology to be used when producing voluntary eco-labels for food and drink products. This will improve consistency in how information about environmental impacts is communicated to consumers, which in turn will create a level playing field to enable comparisons between products and enable consumers to make better informed food choices in line with their values. In addition, the Government is committed to exploring the monitoring, reporting and verification of emissions in the agriculture sector. This will enable us to understand where the greatest decarbonisation opportunities could be across the sector, considering all options. In the Net Zero Growth Plan, the Government has committed to developing a harmonised approach to measuring carbon on farms and will set out how we will support farmers to undertake carbon audits by 2024. We work closely with a range of experts including scientists, social researchers and economic analysts and routinely review and integrate relevant research into policy development. Improvements in livestock productivity can reduce emissions, create a more efficient sector and reduce the impacts of pollution to water and air. Defra is funding research exploring ways to reduce emissions from livestock, including investigating the finishing and slaughter age in beef cattle and the effects on management, productivity and emissions.

Metals: Waste Disposal

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much and what proportion of Environment Agency’s time is dedicated to (a) tackling permitted scrap metal operators acting illegally and (b) tackling unpermitted operators in the scrap metal sector accessing Grant-in-Aid funding.

Rebecca Pow: The Environment Agency spent a total of 32,446 hours on compliance activities at 7,070 permitted sites across all waste treatment sectors (Hazardous Waste Treatment, Non-Hazardous & Inert Waste Treatment and Metal Recycling) in 2022. For the metal recycling sector specifically, the Environment Agency undertook 1,762 compliance related activities across 2,152 permitted sites. These compliance activities include site inspections, site audits, check monitoring, procedure reviews and report/data reviews. As part of these compliance checks we recorded 1,396 separate permit breaches. The Environment Agency spent a total 8,811 hours on compliance work in the Metal Recycling Sector. 7,878 of those hours were spent undertaking site inspections. The Environment Agency does not have data available on the proportion of time spent tackling unpermitted operators in a specific sector. However, we can state that in the financial year 2021/2022 the Environment Agency spent approximately 130,000 hours or 108 FTE tackling illegal waste sites, including illegal scrap metal sites. During that same financial year, a total of 561 illegal waste sites were stopped by the Environment Agency. As an indicator, 94 of these sites were in the scrap metal sector, which represents 17% of all sites stopped. Activities to tackle illegal waste sites are currently funded through government grant-in-aid.

Department for Education

Music: Primary Education

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to increase the availability of music education for all students up to Year 11.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to allow pupils who attend schools where is it not viable to offer an A-level in music due to low pupil demand to continue their studies in that subject up to A-level.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to ensure that all students up to Year 11 participate in art and creative subjects during the school week.

Nick Gibb: The Department believes in a high quality education for all pupils. Integral to this is cultural education, which includes drama, dance, music and art. All state funded schools are required to teach a broad and balanced curriculum.All pupils should have the opportunity to study arts subjects at GCSE and A level if they wish to do so, including music. It is up to individual schools and colleges to decide which Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 courses to offer. They may wish to work together with other schools and colleges to maximise choice.The Government published the National Plan for Music Education last year. The new plan sets out clear actions to improve music education through to 2030, including providing £79 million of funding per year for the Music Hubs programme, up to and including 2024/25, as well as £25 million of capital funding for music instruments.The National Plan includes the Model Music Curriculum (MMC), published in March 2021, available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/974358/Model_Music_Curriculum_Key_Stage_1__2_FINAL.pdf. The MMC provides a blueprint for progression through primary and secondary towards GCSE and other qualifications. The Plan is clear that undertaking formal music qualifications at school, college or elsewhere can be one way to unlock careers in music for young people. Where a pupil wishes to pursue music beyond Key Stage 3, head teachers should have a clear understanding of how their school or college enables the study of music at Key Stage 4 and beyond, including provision of music GCSE, A level and/or technical awards wherever possible.The Department will also be publishing a Cultural Education Plan in 2023, working with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Arts Council England. The Plan will focus on how the Government can support participation and progression in a wide range of arts subjects and activities, particularly for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds and in underrepresented groups. It will also support young people who wish to pursue careers in the creative, cultural, and heritage industries.

Department of Education: HM Inspectorate of Schools

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many times (a) she and (b) her predecessors met His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools since October 2022; and when she last met the Chief Inspector.

Nick Gibb: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has met His Majesty’s Chief Inspector on five occasions since October 2022 as part of a routine programme of meetings, with the latest meeting taking place on 19 April 2023. Regular meetings are scheduled for every six weeks.In addition to this, the wider Ministerial team regularly meet HM Chief Inspector individually to discuss matters relating to their Ministerial portfolios.

Schools: Defibrillators

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many defibrillators have been delivered to state funded schools in (a) Enfield North constituency and (b) the London Borough of Enfield in 2023.

Nick Gibb: On 20 January 2023, the Department announced that the first deliveries of defibrillators had taken place. More information on the announcement can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/defibrillator-deliveries-begin-for-all-schools-that-need-one.Since the announcement, the Department has delivered over 3,500 defibrillators to state funded schools.As of 19 April 2023, 20 defibrillators have been delivered to state funded schools in Enfield North, 4 to schools in Enfield Southgate and 8 to schools in Edmonton. This covers all constituencies in the London Borough of Enfield. All eligible schools in the London Borough of Enfield are expected to receive a defibrillator by the end of the 2022/23 academic year. Schools will be contacted by the supplier, Lyreco, once their defibrillator has been dispatched.The Department would again like to express thanks to Mark King and the Oliver King Foundation.

Teachers: Training

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to take into consideration the historic under-recruitment of subject-specialist teachers in the future allocation of teacher training bursaries.

Nick Gibb: When deciding the bursaries for Initial Teacher Training (ITT), the Department takes a number of factors into account including historic recruitment, forecast economic conditions and teacher supply need in each subject.The unprecedented increase in new entrants to ITT seen in 2020/21 has declined over the past two years. The graduate labour market became more competitive and pay has risen in competing sectors.To respond to this challenge, the Department announced an ITT financial incentives package worth up to £181 million for 2023/24, which is a £52 million increase on the previous year. This includes bursaries worth £27,000 tax free and scholarships worth £29,000 tax free, to encourage talented trainees to teach in key subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing.

Mental Health: Education

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to ensure that the National Curriculum includes lessons on personal wellbeing and building resilience for addressing mental health challenges for school pupils from Reception to Year 13.

Nick Gibb: Health education became a statutory part of the school curriculum in September 2020 for all pupils in state funded schools of compulsory school age. Independent schools do not have to teach the new health education curriculum, but they do have a statutory duty to teach personal, social, health and economic education under the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014.The aim of teaching pupils about physical health and mental wellbeing is to give them the information they need to make good decisions about their own health and wellbeing, recognise issues in themselves and others and, when issues arise, seek support as early as possible from appropriate sources.At primary school, pupils will learn to recognise and talk about their emotions, the benefits of exercise and simple self-care techniques. At secondary school, pupils will learn about common types of mental ill-health and how to recognise the early signs of mental wellbeing concerns.Health education should support a whole-school approach to fostering pupil wellbeing and developing pupils’ resilience. This integrated, whole-school approach to the teaching and promotion of health and wellbeing has the potential to positively affect behaviour and attainment.The Department is currently reviewing the relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance and has committed to undertake a deep dive into whether suicide prevention should be included as part of the curriculum.

Schools: Restraint Techniques

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Government’s commitment to make it a legal duty for incidents of use of reasonable force to be recorded and reported to parents or carers by bringing section 93A of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 into force when parliamentary time allows, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to enact this commitment in this Parliament.

Nick Gibb: The Government recognises that the misuse of reasonable force or restrictive practices can have a significant and long-lasting effect on the pupils, staff members and parents involved, as well as the wider classroom by potentially hindering the creation of a calm, safe and supportive school environment. The Government is therefore committed to minimising the use of reasonable force and restrictive practice in all schools.Part of this action is to commence Section 93A of the Education and Inspections Act 2006, which will make recording and reporting of incidents of use of force to parents/carers a legal duty, alongside producing revised ‘Use of Reasonable Force’ guidance to support schools to understand and implement their duties.A call for evidence into the use of reasonable force and restrictive practices in schools has been launched, which will run from 15 February to 11 May 2023. This evidence will inform the drafting of the ‘Use of Reasonable Force’ guidance, which will be subject to a public consultation.

Apprentices

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of (a) all apprenticeship courses started and (b) the amount apprenticeship levy spent were for (i) Level 6 and (ii) Level 7 apprenticeships in each year since 2016.

Robert Halfon: Degree-level apprenticeships provide people with high-quality training, and are important in supporting productivity, social mobility, and widening participation in higher education and employment. There are now 159 standards at degree level (Level 6 and 7), including Doctor, Construction Quantity Surveyor and Midwife. The department is providing an additional £40 million in Strategic Priorities Grant funding over the next two years to support degree apprenticeship providers in expanding and helping more people access this provision, on top of our £8 million investment in the 2022/23 financial year.We have seen year-on-year growth of degree-level apprenticeships with almost 180,000 starts since their introduction in the 2014/15 academic year. Starts at levels 6 and 7 now represent 16.2% of all starts (33,180) so far this year (Aug-Jan), and volumes are up by 12% when compared to the same period in 2021/22 (29,580).The table below shows the proportion of apprenticeship starts at Level 6 and Level 7 in each academic year since 2016/17.Apprenticeships starts (%) by academic yearLevel 6Level 72016/170.3%0.0%2017/181.7%1.2%2018/192.8%3.0%2019/204.7%4.8%2020/216.1%6.1%2021/226.7%5.6% The table below shows the apprenticeships spend on Levels 6 and 7, rounded to the nearest £ million. This is the total spend for apprenticeships at Levels 6 and 7 by both levy-paying and non-levy paying employers and includes apprenticeships started in previous years.Overall spend on Level 6 and 7 apprenticeships, by academic year (£ million)Level 6Level 72016/171202017/1833112018/1978572019/201331182020/212031862021/22290216

Teachers: Lincoln

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hours of (a) mathematics, (b) English, (c) sciences and (d) modern foreign languages were taught in secondary schools in Lincoln constituency by teachers who had neither a relevant A-level or higher level qualification in the last full year for which data are available.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hours of (a) mathematics, (b) English, (c) sciences and (d) modern foreign languages were taught in secondary schools in Colne Valley constituency by teachers who had neither a relevant A-level or higher level qualification in the last full year for which data are available.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hours of (a) mathematics, (b) English, (c) sciences and (d) modern foreign languages were taught in secondary schools in Worcester constituency by teachers who had neither a relevant A-level or higher level qualification in the last full year for which data are available.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hours of (a) mathematics, (b) English, (c) sciences and (d) modern foreign languages were taught in secondary schools in Basingstoke constituency by teachers who had neither a relevant A-level or higher level qualification in the last full year for which data are available.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hours of (a) mathematics, (b) English, (c) sciences and (d) modern foreign languages were taught in secondary schools in Loughborough constituency by teachers who had neither a relevant A-level or higher level qualification in the last full year for which data are available.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hours of (a) mathematics, (b) English, (c) sciences and (d) modern foreign languages were taught in secondary schools in Telford constituency by teachers who had neither a relevant A-level or higher level qualification in the last full year for which data are available.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hours of (a) mathematics, (b) English, (c) sciences and (d) modern foreign languages were taught in secondary schools in Croydon South constituency by teachers who had neither a relevant A-level or higher level qualification in the last full year for which data are available.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hours of (a) mathematics, (b) English, (c) sciences and (d) modern foreign languages were taught in secondary schools in Gravesham constituency by teachers who had neither a relevant A-level or higher level qualification in the last full year for which data are available.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hours of (a) mathematics, (b) English, (c) sciences and (d) modern foreign languages were taught in secondary schools in Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency by teachers who had neither a relevant A-level or higher level qualification in the last full year for which data are available.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hours of (a) mathematics, (b) English, (c) sciences and (d) modern foreign languages were taught in secondary schools in North Swindon constituency by teachers who had neither a relevant A-level or higher level qualification in the last full year for which data are available.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hours of (a) mathematics, (b) English, (c) sciences and (d) modern foreign languages were taught in secondary schools in Rother Valley constituency by teachers who had neither a relevant A-level or higher level qualification in the last full year for which data are available.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hours of (a) mathematics, (b) English, (c) sciences and (d) modern foreign languages were taught in secondary schools in Bolsover constituency by teachers who had neither a relevant A-level or higher level qualification in the last full year for which data are available.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hours of (a) mathematics, (b) English, (c) sciences and (d) modern foreign languages were taught in secondary schools in Stoke-on-Trent North constituency by teachers who had neither a relevant A-level or higher level qualification in the last full year for which data are available.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hours of (a) mathematics, (b) English, (c) sciences and (d) modern foreign languages were taught in secondary schools in Carlisle constituency by teachers who had neither a relevant A-level or higher level qualification in the last full year for which data are available.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hours of (a) mathematics, (b) English, (c) sciences and (d) modern foreign languages were taught in secondary schools in Bolton North East constituency by teachers who had neither a relevant A-level or higher level qualification in the last full year for which data are available.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hours of (a) mathematics, (b) English, (c) sciences and (d) modern foreign languages were taught in secondary schools in Waveney constituency by teachers who had neither a relevant A-level or higher level qualification in the last full year for which data are available.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hours of (a) mathematics, (b) English, (c) sciences and (d) modern foreign languages were taught in secondary schools in South Thanet constituency by teachers who had neither a relevant A-level or higher level qualification in the last full year for which data are available.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hours of (a) mathematics, (b) English, (c) sciences and (d) modern foreign languages were taught in secondary schools in Heywood and Middleton constituency by teachers who had neither a relevant A-level or higher level qualification in the last full year for which data are available.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hours of (a) mathematics, (b) English, (c) sciences and (d) modern foreign languages were taught in secondary schools in Northampton South constituency by teachers who had neither a relevant A-level or higher level qualification in the last full year for which data are available.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hours of (a) mathematics, (b) English, (c) sciences, and (d) modern foreign languages were taught in secondary schools in Bournemouth West constituency by teachers who had neither a relevant A-level or higher level qualification in the last full year for which data are available.

Nick Gibb: Information on the school workforce in England, including subjects taught in state funded secondary schools, is collected as part of the annual School Workforce Census each November. Information is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.The total number of hours taught for each subject are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/38de2951-c92c-46e4-39fb-08db371965b6.The proportion of those hours that were taught by teachers without a relevant A level or higher level qualification are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/ee831a35-e304-4821-bb6a-08db371944c7.Timetabled teaching is reported for a typical week in November, as determined by the school. It does not cover an entire year of teaching. If there are variations in timetabling across the year, this is not covered in the data available to the Department. To reduce the burden during the COVID-19 pandemic, schools and Local Authorities were not required to provide information on teacher qualifications in the 2020 census.Data on the subject taught is only collected from secondary schools that use electronic timetabling software that can produce data in the format required. Data is then weighted to provide national totals. Breakdowns by Local Authority and parliamentary constituency are, therefore, not available.

School Leaving: Employment and Finance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing classes for school leavers to assist with life skills such as budgeting and preparation for work.

Nick Gibb: Education on financial matters helps to ensure that young people are prepared to manage their money well, make sound financial decisions and know where to seek further information when needed.Finance education forms part of the citizenship National Curriculum at Key Stages 3 and 4, but can be taught by all schools at all Key Stages. The subject covers the functions and uses of money, the importance of personal budgeting, money management, and managing financial risk. At secondary school, pupils are taught about income and expenditure, credit and debt, insurance, savings and pensions, financial products and services, and how public money is raised and spent.The secondary mathematics curriculum develops pupils’ understanding in relation to more complex personal finance issues such as calculating loan repayments, interest rates and compound interest.My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, has set out a new mission to ensure all pupils study some form of mathematics to 18, equipping them with the skills they need for the jobs of today and the future. This includes having the knowledge to feel confident with finances in later life, including things like finding the best mortgage deal or savings rate.The Department works with the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) and HM Treasury to support the effective teaching of financial education in schools. MaPS has published financial education guidance for primary and secondary schools and the Department will deliver webinars for schools in due course. The MaPS guidance can be found here: https://maps.org.uk/2021/11/11/financial-education-guidance-for-primary-and-secondary-schools-in-england/.The Department is providing £31 million of funding in 2023/24 to support secondary schools and colleges to deliver high quality careers education and work experience, including the national rollout of Careers Hubs.The Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC) will ensure that Careers Hubs increase young peoples’ exposure to employers and to more in-depth workplace experiences. These experiences give young people a real feel for work and the knowledge they need to succeed.

Free School Meals: Disability

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish guidance on the reasonable adjustments that schools should make where a disabled child who is eligible for free school meals is unable to receive them because of dietary or sensory requirements relating to their disability.

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that registered pupils at a school who receive some or all of their education elsewhere for reasons relating to a disability continue to have access to free school meals.

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending eligibility for free school meals to children who are educated otherwise than at school.

Nick Gibb: The Education Act 1996 places a duty on maintained schools and academies to provide nutritious free meals to pupils who meet the eligibility criteria, including being a registered pupil of a state funded school.Free School Meal (FSM) provision should be made to eligible pupils either on the school premises or at any other place where education is being provided.The Department expects schools to act reasonably in ensuring that their food provision accounts for medical, dietary and cultural needs. The Department has published statutory guidance, which describes the steps that schools may take to ensure this provision, such as the establishment of individual healthcare plans which may include special diets. The statutory guidance, ‘Supporting Pupils at School with Medical Conditions’, can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3.The Department does not plan to expand FSM to include pupils who are home, or privately educated. The Department will continue to keep eligibility under review to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them.

Cabinet Office

New Businesses

Jim McMahon: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many (a) agriculture, (b) forestry and (c) fishing businesses were registered in (a) 2010, (b) 2015 and (c) 2020.

Jeremy Quin: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman Parliamentary Question of 20th April is attached. UK Statistics Authority  (pdf, 113.2KB)

Blood: Contamination

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, who is the chair of the cross-departmental group overseeing the work informed by the Infected Blood Inquiry.

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, who attends the cross-departmental meetings overseeing the work coordinated by the Cabinet Office on the Infected Blood Inquiry.

Jeremy Quin: The Cabinet Office chairs a range of cross governmental meetings at official and ministerial level from departments across Whitehall to coordinate the Government’s response on the Infected Blood Inquiry. The issue of compensation is complex, and we are working at pace across Government to ensure that we are able to respond quickly to Sir Brian Langstaff’s final report. I refer the honourable Member to the statement made on Wednesday April 19 2023, in response to the publication of the Infected Blood Inquiry’s Second Interim Report.

Civil Service: Recruitment

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether persons with at least one British Nationals (Overseas) parent but who are not themselves British Nationals (Overseas) are eligible to be employed in the Civil Service.

Jeremy Quin: The Civil Service Nationality Rules reflect a long-standing legislative framework that has existed under successive governments and govern eligibility for employment in the Civil Service on the grounds of nationality. Whether or not an individual is eligible to work in the Civil Service under the nationality rules is dependent on their nationality only. An individual who had at least one British National (Overseas) parent, but who themselves was not a British National (Overseas), may still be eligible to work in the Civil Service if they meet the nationality rules in their own right.

Customs: Small Businesses

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps with Cabinet colleagues to review the implementation of the Single Trade Window to ensure it meets the needs of small businesses; and if he will make a statement.

Alex Burghart: The world-leading Single Trade Window (STW) will provide a simplified experience for businesses interacting with the Government and significantly reduce the administrative burden, including for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Through the STW, SMEs and other businesses will only need to submit their data once and in one place. Better use of technology and real-time data will ensure a more streamlined experience and represents an important step in our endeavour to create the most effective border in the world.

Uyghurs: Forced Labour

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that goods produced by the forced labour of Uyghur Muslims in China are not included in any Government procurement contracts.

Alex Burghart: HM Government is committed to preventing modern slavery occurring in public sector supply chains. The Cabinet Office has published commercial policy and guidance setting out the steps that all Government departments must take to identify and mitigate modern slavery and labour abuse risks throughout the commercial life cycle - focusing on the areas of highest risk. This policy is mandatory for all Central Government Departments, their Executive Agencies and Non-Departmental Public Bodies. The Government has taken a number of measures to help ensure that no British organisations are profiting from or contributing to human rights violations against the Uyghurs or other minorities. We have introduced guidance for UK businesses on the risks of conducting business in Xinjiang, implemented enhanced export controls, and committed to introducing new procurement guidance for Government bodies as well as financial penalties for non-compliance with section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act. The Procurement Bill, which is being considered by Parliament, strengthens the rules around excluding suppliers due to serious misconduct anywhere in their operations, including the supply chain. This includes explicit provision for suppliers to be prevented from bidding for contracts where there is evidence of their involvement in modern slavery.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Nepal: Visits Abroad

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to visit the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal in the next 12 months.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The UK and Nepal share a long and deep history. Diplomatic relations were established in 1816, and the UK was the first country to formalise diplomatic ties with Nepal. The FCDO Minister of State for the Indo-Pacific, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, visited Nepal in March, where she marked 100 years since the signing of the Treaty of Friendship. The Foreign Secretary's travel plans over the next year are still being decided, but Nepal remains a uniquely close and valued partner in the Indo Pacific region. The UK will continue to commemorate this, especially in the centenary anniversary year of the Treaty of Friendship.

China: Sanctions

Alicia Kearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the steps taken by the US Government to sanction (a) GCL-Poly, (b) Longi Solar, (c) Hongyuan New Material Co. and (d) Tongwei Solar.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The Government is committed to tackling the issue of Uyghur forced labour in supply chains and is taking robust action. We have previously imposed sanctions on a range of Chinese actors responsible for the human rights violations in Xinjiang, in coordination with international partners. Sanctions are just one tool at our disposal, and we have also taken wider action including providing guidance to business, introducing enhanced export controls, announcing penalties under the Modern Slavery Act, and mobilising international support to hold China to account. The Government will continue to impress upon China the need to end serious human rights violations.

India: Religious Freedom

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the level of persecution of religious minorities in India.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The UK Government has a broad and deep partnership with the Government of India and we discuss all elements of our relationship. We remain committed to defending freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all and promoting respect and tolerance between communities. Where we have issues, we raise them directly with the Government of India, including at Ministerial level. The Minister for South Asia, Lord [Tariq] Ahmad of Wimbledon, regularly speaks to the High Commissioner of India. Human rights forms part of that dialogue. Our networks across India regularly meet religious representatives and have run projects supporting human rights.

China: Religious Freedom

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the hearing of 14 December 2022 of US Commission on International Religious Freedom on China's Religious Freedom Violations: Domestic Repression and Malign Influence Abroad.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom's hearing on 14 December further highlights China's ongoing human rights violations. The environment for freedom of religion or belief across China is restrictive, including the persecution of Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Falun Gong practitioners and others on the grounds of their religion or belief.We work within the UN, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Council of Europe, International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance and other international organisations and networks to promote and protect freedom of religion or belief for all where it is threatened. More broadly, we regularly raise the human rights situation in China directly with the Chinese authorities at the highest levels. Most recently, the Foreign Secretary did so in a meeting with his Chinese counterpart on 20 February 2023.

Tibet: Education

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of reports that children from Tibet are being forced into Chinese educational centres.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: We are aware of reports of human rights violations in Tibet including Tibetan parents being coerced and intimidated into sending their children to boarding schools. We continue to raise the situation in Tibet with the Chinese authorities. We also coordinate with partners to draw international attention to the human rights situation in Tibet. In June 2022, a UK led lobbying effort helped to secure the support of 46 other countries for a joint statement at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) which highlighted the situation in Tibet, and called on the Chinese authorities to abide by their human rights obligations. In March, we raised the issue of boarding schools in our Item 4 statement at the UN HRC. We will continue to press China to cease human rights violations.

Ecuador: Elections

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Ecuadoran counterpart on whether President Guillermo Lasso plans to dissolve Congress and call early elections.

David Rutley: We have been closely monitoring political developments in Ecuador since Ecuador's Constitutional Court approved the National Assembly's plan to impeach President Lasso at the end of March. Staff at the British Embassy in Quito hold regular discussions with the Ecuadorean Government and stakeholders on a range of issues including the political outlook. The Foreign Secretary last spoke with his Ecuadorean counterpart in February, before the impeachment vote was approved on 29 March.

Sudan: British Nationals Abroad

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to support British citizens unable to leave Khartoum during the current period of unrest.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The safety of all British nationals in Sudan continues to be our utmost priority.From 25 April, we have coordinated the supported departure of British nationals from Sudan. Our Travel Advice is for British national to travel to Wadi Saeedna airfield north of Khartoum, where they will be processed for evacuation. We will evacuate British passport holders and immediate family members (spouse / partner and children under 18 years old) with existing UK entry clearance.A peaceful political transition to democracy and civilian governance is still possible in Sudan, and all factions must uphold their responsibility to protect civilians, ensure humanitarian assistance can continue to be delivered safely and allow the transition to civilian leadership immediately. We will continue to pursue all diplomatic avenues to end the violence and de-escalate tensions.

Ukraine: International Assistance

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which Minister is responsible for arrangements for the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London in June 2023.

Leo Docherty: The United Kingdom is proud to co-host the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC23) with Ukraine. As a co-hosted event, arrangements for URC23 are in collaboration with the Government of Ukraine. The HMG Minister responsible is the Foreign Secretary.

Russia: Ukraine

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact on freedom of religion or belief violations in (a) Russia and (b) Ukraine of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Leo Docherty: Russia has a long-standing record of domestic repression, including violations of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB). This repression has only increased since Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, as the Russian authorities seek to quash opposition. In Ukraine, Russia has persecuted Crimean Tatars, Jehovah's Witnesses, and clergy belonging to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and Protestant churches in Russian-controlled areas since 2014. Russia has extended this policy to newly seized areas in the course of its invasion, resulting in further FoRB violations. We are also concerned about the impact of destruction of religious property on FoRB, with over 100 religious sites damaged or destroyed since February 2022.

Ukraine: International Assistance

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the aims and objectives are for the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2023.

Leo Docherty: The Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC23) will focus on the role of the private sector in supporting recovery and reconstruction. It will provide a platform for the Government of Ukraine to set out its priority reforms, particularly in the business environment and for international partners to signal their support and their offer to Ukraine. The Conference will look at how to unblock obstacles to investment and how governments, the private sector and civil society can work together to support recovery and reconstruction efforts in the longer-term.

Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which (a) heads of state and (b) other representatives of the Gulf states have indicated their attendance at the coronation.

David Rutley: Invitations were issued to the Heads of State of all nations with whom the UK has full diplomatic relations, with a small number of exceptions.

West Bank: British Nationals Abroad

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of Israeli settlers in the West Bank who hold British citizenship.

David Rutley: The Foreign Secretary has made no such assessment. The UK's position on settlements is clear. They are illegal under international law, present an obstacle to peace, and threaten the physical viability of a two-state solution. We want to see a contiguous West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as part of a viable and sovereign Palestinian state, based on 1967 lines. We urge Israel to halt its settlement expansion.

Israel: Christianity

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has discussed recent attacks against (a) Christian communities and (b) Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, including the assault on the Church of Gethsemane on 19 March 2023, with his Israeli counterpart.

David Rutley: The UK is a strong supporter of Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) and calls for places of worship to be respected. We condemn the violence at the Church of Gethsemane on 19 March. Israel must ensure those responsible for attacks on Christians are held to account. We value the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan's important role as custodian of the holy sites in Jerusalem. The Foreign Secretary emphasised the importance of all parties respecting the historic Status Quo arrangements at Jerusalem's holy sites during Israeli Foreign Minister Cohen's recent visit to London and in my statement on 7 April.

Rwanda: Democratic Republic of Congo

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent representations his Department made to the government of Rwanda about that country's activities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK, alongside international partners, continues to raise the ongoing conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo with the Government of Rwanda and the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo at the highest levels. On 13 March the Foreign Secretary and the Rwandan Foreign Minister discussed the importance of meeting commitments made under the Nairobi and Luanda political processes. It is vital that all parties work together to secure real de-escalation on the ground and an enduring political solution.

East Africa: Malnutrition

Patricia Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make it his policy to provide an additional £70 million for the treatment of wasting for acutely malnourished children in East Africa.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Humanitarian needs across East Africa are at critical levels with a growing caseload of malnourished children. The UK is at the forefront of the humanitarian response in the region having invested over £1 billion in humanitarian aid alone since 2019. UK funded programmes are saving lives and making a difference. Last year in Somalia approximately 50,000 people received urgent nutrition and health services. A further 200,000 malnourished women and children benefited from UK assistance in Ethiopia. We will share details of our planned humanitarian budgets for East Africa for financial year 2023/2024 in due course.

Persecution of Christians across the Globe Independent Review

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the Truro Review is implemented in full.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We welcome the findings of the Independent Review of our work to take forward the Truro recommendations. We continue to ensure that progress made is embedded and that Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) is central to our wider human rights work. Since the Truro Review, we have hosted the International Ministerial conference on FoRB, working with the PM's Special Envoy for FoRB, and announced £500,000 of new funding to support FoRB defenders and to provide legal expertise to countries where FoRB is under pressure. We continue to work with UN, G7, and other multilateral fora to promote FoRB and Ministers and officials regularly raise specific cases of concern.

Israel: Nuclear Weapons

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of whether Israel possesses nuclear weapons.

David Rutley: Israel has not declared a nuclear weapons programme. The UK Government has called on Israel to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as a non-nuclear weapon state and to upgrade its arrangement to a full scope comprehensive safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Israel: Palestinians

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to support de-escalation of violence against Palestinian and Israeli civilians.

David Rutley: We continue to closely monitor the security situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs). The Foreign Secretary issued a press statement on April 7 condemning violence at Jerusalem's holy sites. In a meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on 21 March he re-stated the UK's opposition to settlements, demolitions, and evictions. This followed a phone call with Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Malki on 7 March in which he made clear his expectation that the Palestinian Authority will call on Palestinians to refrain from violence. British diplomats in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem raise these issues with the government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, respectively, on a regular basis, and we regularly raise these issues in international fora.

Afghanistan: Refugees

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April to Question 175506 on Afghanistan: Refugees, how many of the 11,200 people who submitted an expression of interest and were not deemed eligible in principle for relocation to the UK under Pathway 3, have been informed of their ineligibility.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April to Question 175506 on Afghanistan: Refugees, how many of the 200 individuals informed by his Department to be eligible in principle for resettlement to the UK under Pathway 3 were (a) British Council workers, (b) GardaWorld contractors, (c) Chevening alumni and (d) other.

Leo Docherty: The FCDO has informed over 250 British Council contractors, GardaWorld contractors and Chevening alumni that they are eligible in principle for resettlement under ACRS Pathway 3, subject to passing security checks. Including their family members, this accounts for over 1,200 of the 1,500 available places in the first year under Pathway 3. The FCDO has been in contact with all individuals who submitted expressions of interest (EOIs) under ACRS Pathway 3 and has communicated an outcome on over 11,200 (98 per cent) of the over 11,400 EOIs received. We are continuing to work at pace to allocate the remaining places. We will not be commenting on individual cohort numbers while EOIs are still being processed and security checks are outstanding. We will update Parliament once we have completed the allocation process, notified all those who submitted EOIs of the outcome and have assured data to share.

Afghanistan: Refugees

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many (a) principles and (b) dependents with confirmed eligibility for relocation to the UK from the (i) Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy and (ii) Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme are currently housed in hotel accommodation in (A) Pakistan and (B) other third countries.

Leo Docherty: As of 17 April there were approximately 218 principals and 968 dependents in UK-funded accommodation in Pakistan and other third countries assessed eligible under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme, and 74 principals and 230 dependents assessed eligible under the Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme. The Home Office and UK Visas and Immigration process cases to confirm eligibility to relocate to the UK.

Pakistan: Ahmadiyya

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the implications of the destruction of an Ahmadi Mosque in Gujranwala in Pakistan on 8 December 2022.

Leo Docherty: Protecting and promoting freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) remains central to the UK Government's human rights engagement in Pakistan. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for South Asia and Minister responsible for Human Rights, raised the treatment of Ahmadi Muslims with Pakistan's Minister for Human Rights, Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada on 30 January. On 9 January, Minister of State for Development Andrew Mitchell raised the issue with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The British High Commission in Islamabad continues to engage at a senior level with government representatives and civil society, including on recent attacks on Ahmadi mosques.

Development Aid: Basic Skills

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his counterparts in other high-income countries on investing a higher proportion of Official Development Assistance in foundational literacy and numeracy programmes.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: FCDO and likeminded education partners have come together to promote a shared commitment to improving foundational learning for all. At the Transforming Education Summit in September 2022, countries and organisations were invited to endorse a Commitment to Action on Foundational Learning. This aims to build a global coalition of education partners collaborating on foundational learning. The UK is also asking the G7 and G20 to focus on foundational learning, including by prioritising more global Official Development Assistance (ODA) for education. This builds on our 2021 G7 Presidency, where we secured G7 support for two Global Objectives on girls' access and foundational learning objectives.

Somaliland: Human Rights

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has raised violence in Las Anod and Somaliland with the UN for investigation.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The fighting in Las Anod has seen credible reports of shelling of civilian areas, including a hospital, and the humanitarian impact has been severe. We are working privately and in public with a range of international partners, including the UN, to press all parties to the conflict to end the fighting. On 15 April, the UK and 14 international partners held a joint call with President Bihi to press for de-escalation and humanitarian access. We have issued several statements independently and with partners, most recently on 15 April following the above call, calling for de-escalation, humanitarian access and dialogue. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and to press for a resolution to the conflict.

Development Aid: Climate Change

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to help tackle (a) food shortages, (b) droughts and (c) crop disease in countries experiencing immediate adverse effects of climate change.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The UK recognises that the current impacts of climate change are likely to increase in frequency and severity. Investment in mitigation and adaptation will help reduce these impacts. More needs to be done at global, regional and local levels to help countries and local communities. Between 2016 and 2020 the UK spent £2.4 billion in areas relevant to addressing losses and damages. At COP27 the UK announced it will triple funding for adaptation programmes from £500 million in 2019 to £1.5 billion in 2025.Our new food security and nutrition campaign announced in the Integrated Review Refresh will see us focus on leading solutions to break the cycle of famine and prevent future food crises.

UK Special Representative for Climate Change: Public Appointments

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to appoint a Special Representative on Climate Change.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: Since 2011 we have supported over 95 million people to cope with the effects of climate change, provided over 58 million people with improved access to clean energy and reduced or avoided over 68 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.Whilst an immediate successor to the Special Representative has not been appointed, our resource and senior representation within the FCDO on climate and environment has grown significantly since the creation of the FCDO. Climate change remains an area of utmost importance to this government and to the Foreign Secretary.

Attorney General

Sexual Offences: Greater London

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Attorney General, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of support provided to Crown Prosecution Service lawyers prosecuting rape and serious sexual offences in London.

Michael Tomlinson: The CPS has a comprehensive programme of learning and wellbeing support for all lawyers prosecuting rape and serious sexual offences, including those in London. All lawyers dealing with such casework are required to undertake bespoke training providing a clear understanding of the complexities surrounding the offence, the suspect centric approach, the impact of trauma upon victim’s memory and how to reach Code compliant decisions and assessment of evidence. The wellbeing of all lawyers and paralegals dealing with such offences is paramount and as such, timely and accessible wellbeing support mechanisms are in place to support the mental and physical wellbeing of those dealing with traumatic material.

Crown Prosecution Service: Recruitment

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Attorney General, what steps the Crown Prosecution Service is taking to increase its number of legal trainees.

Michael Tomlinson: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) runs an award-winning and highly competitive legal trainee scheme that has seen hundreds of trainees undertake a training contract and/or pupillage across England and Wales with the CPS since 2012. The CPS has extended its post graduate qualification requirements, to include not only the LPC and Bar Qualification, but the new Solicitors Qualifying Examination, which opens a career in law to a broader and more diverse audience.

Government Departments: Staff

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2023 to Question 166164 on Government Departments: Staff, what the overall rating out of 100 recorded was in the most recent Leesman office surveys undertaken by the (a) Crown Prosecution Service, (b) Government Legal Department and (c) Serious Fraud Office.

Michael Tomlinson: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) do not undertake Leesman surveys. Any such office surveys are completed by the Government Property Agency (GPA). The Government Legal Department (GLD) holds no data on this. At the time of the last survey, none of the core GLD buildings were managed by the GPA. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) scored 52.7 out of 100 on the latest Leesman Office survey.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Boilers

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whart assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing additional funding for boiler replacements for people who are unable to afford them.

Graham Stuart: In response to the energy crisis, the Government provided unprecedented support to consumers and has acted decisively, supporting citizens by paying around half of a typical household’s energy bills. The Government will deliver upgrades to over half a million low income and most vulnerable homes in the coming years through its Social Housing Decarbonisation, Home Upgrade Grant Schemes and Energy Company Obligation Scheme which can include grants available for boiler replacement.

Energy: Meters

Damien Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to Ofgem's Code of Practice for domestic energy suppliers, published on 18 April 2023, what recent discussions his Department has held with Ofgem on measures to ensure that energy companies comply with the requirements to provide customers with more time to clear their debts before they are involuntarily switched to a prepayment meter.

Amanda Solloway: The Department has regular discussions with Ofgem on many issues. The Government welcomes the Code of Practice announced by Ofgem, but there must be proof that it works and leads to strengthened protections for vulnerable consumers. The Code sets out clear procedures for suppliers and includes the banning of force-fitted prepayment meters for a debt outstanding less than 3 months after a bill has been issued or less than £200 per fuel, or where the customer is on or transitioning to a repayment plan. All suppliers have signed up to the Code and must demonstrate its implementation before reinstating force-fitted prepayment meter process. Ofgem will consult on incorporating the Code into the supply licence, to make it fully enforceable by winter.

District Heating: Billing

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 17 April to Question 176758 on District Heating, if he will publish the source of the data used to estimate the annualised heating bills of heat networks customers.

Amanda Solloway: The response to Question 176758 made an assessment of estimated heating bills for a comparable heat network customer and domestic gas customer. The estimated annualised heating bills for a heat network customer used the data sources detailed below.  Data sourceComments on publicationQuarterly Energy Pricesstatistical publication. Average non-domestic gas prices paid (March 2022 to September 2022)Currently published ( https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/industrial-energy-prices)Average non-domestic gas prices paid by Energy Bill Relief Scheme recipients, Winter 2022Not published due to commercial sensitivity.Impact of Energy Bill Relief Scheme on non-domestic gas contract pricesCurrently published ( https://www.gov.uk/guidance/energy-bill-relief-scheme-help-for-businesses-and-other-non-domestic-customers)Heat network gas price under Energy Bills Discount SchemeCurrently published ( https://www.gov.uk/guidance/energy-bills-discount-scheme-heat-networks-support)Historic Ofgem domestic gas price capCurrently published. Separate time periods published on separate web pages. ( https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/energy-policy-and-regulation/policy-and-regulatory-programmes/default-tariff-cap)

Energy Bills Rebate

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether vouchers that are re-issued as lost or expired are counted separately within the tables provided for payments made under the Energy Bills support scheme.

Amanda Solloway: Suppliers report on a monthly basis how many vouchers have expired that month. They also report how many vouchers they have reissued each month. Reissued vouchers are not factored into 'payments delivered' in the publication tables, this covers only the first time a supplier makes an EBSS payment. The transparency data on Energy Bills Support Scheme GB payments made by electricity suppliers to customers and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-bills-support-scheme-payments-made-by-electricity-suppliers-to-customers.

Alternative Fuel Payments: Weaver Vale

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many people in Weaver Vale constituency have received the Alternative Fuels Energy Support Payment.

Amanda Solloway: Regional data, such as for Weaver Vale, is not yet available. Electricity suppliers, who delivered the automatic enrolment element of the scheme, are providing MPAN-level delivery data to Government, and further details will be published in due course. The Alternative Fund for the Alternative Fuel Payment, the element which requires an application, launched recently on 6 March and early data is still being collected. Transparency data also will be published in due course.

Alternative Fuel Payments: Weaver Vale

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of delays in providing the Alternative Fuels Payment to people in Weaver Vale constituency.

Amanda Solloway: Over 85% of eligible households have received the payment automatically via their electricity supplier during February. Most households did not need to take any action to receive the support. A small proportion of households will need to apply for the AFP, for example because they do not have a relationship with an electricity supplier. Applications for this Alternative Fund opened on 6 March through a GOV.UK portal which includes an overview of eligibility and what steps households need to take to apply for support.

Alternative Fuel Payments

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many households have received the Alternative Fuels Payment as of 18 April 2023.

Amanda Solloway: The vast majority of the estimated 2 million households in the UK who use alternative fuels for heating will have received their payment automatically from their electricity supplier in January / February (Northern Ireland) and February (Great Britain). The application schemes for those households who did not receive an automatic payment but are eligible for support opened on 27 February (Northern Ireland) and 6 March (Great Britain). Transparency data will be published in due course.

Members: Correspondence

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2023 to Question 176722 on Members: Correspondence, when he plans to respond to the correspondence of 15 December 2022 from the hon. Member for Lewisham East, case reference JD31665.

Graham Stuart: I wrote to the hon. Member on 20 April 2023 about deforestation.

Carbon Emissions

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the report Powering up Britain, published on the 30 March 2023, whether he plans to introduce a Net Zero mandate.

Graham Stuart: In 2019 the Government amended the Climate Change Act legally to mandate the UK to achieve net zero by 2050. The Government has met every Carbon Budget target to date and the Carbon Budget Delivery Plan, published as part of Powering Up Britain, provides details on the package of proposals and policies which will enable the UK to meet Carbon Budgets 4, 5 and 6, up to 2037.

Energy Company Obligation

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many homes are (a) eligible for ECO4 and (b) meet the minimum improvement requirements for ECO4.

Graham Stuart: As set out in the Energy Company Obligation 4 (ECO4) final impact assessment published 1 April 2022, there are an estimated 3.7 million properties eligible under current ECO4 eligibility criteria. Eligible homes in Bands D-E are subject to the pre-assessment survey to determine whether they can meet the minimum improvement requirement. The decision to offer any assistance lies solely with ECO-obligated energy suppliers and the installers to whom they sub-contract. The Government does not become involved with any of the private contractual decisions of these parties. Therefore, Government does not determine how many of the eligible homes reach the minimum improvement requirement.

Renewable Energy: Rural Areas

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make it his policy to provide incentives for rural households dependent on oil to heat their homes to change to a renewable liquid.

Graham Stuart: The Government has no current plans to provide incentives for the use of renewable liquid fuels in rural households. Sustainable biomass is a limited resource and must be prioritised for use where there are the fewest options to decarbonise and the potential emissions reductions are greatest. The Biomass Strategy, which will be published later this year, will improve the Government's understanding of the supply of renewable liquid fuels. Policy decisions on the role of renewable liquid fuels in heating will need to reflect this Strategy.

Energy: Meters

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to his letter of 30 January 2023 to all Members of Parliament, what response he received to the request for the release of supplier data on the number of warrant applications that suppliers have made to force entry to homes to install meters.

Amanda Solloway: Following a request from the Secretary of State, all suppliers have provided data on warrants. The Government has published this data, showing that over 94,000 prepayment meters were forcibly installed under warrant last year. More information can be found here: www.gov.uk/government/news/just-three-energy-suppliers-making-up-over-70-of-all-forced-installation-of-prepayment-meters.

Fuel Poverty

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of families in fuel poverty.

Amanda Solloway: In 2022, there were an estimated 3.26 million households in fuel poverty in England. The annual statistics report on fuel poverty in England, published in February 2023, can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-fuel-poverty-statistics-report-2023.

Heat Pumps: Rural Areas

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what support he plans to provide to rural households to help reduce the purchase and installation costs of heat pumps.

Graham Stuart: The Boiler Upgrade Scheme provides grants to encourage property owners to replace fossil fuel heating with more efficient, low carbon systems. This includes up to £6,000 off a heat pump, in addition to the 0% rate of VAT on these technologies. For homes off the gas grid, funding is also available through the Home Upgrade Grant. These schemes are part of a comprehensive policy package to grow the heat pump market and work with industry to bring down costs to consumers. Further details are set out in the Powering Up Britain publications (2022) and Heat and Buildings Strategy (2021).

Housing: Preston

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to increase the rate of energy efficiency measure installations in homes in Preston.

Graham Stuart: The Government is committed to improving the energy performance of homes across the country, including in Preston. The Government is investing £6.6 billion over this parliament in decarbonising heat and energy efficiency measures and launched the £1 billion Great British Insulation Scheme in March running until March 2026, saving around 300,000 of the country’s least energy efficient homes £300-£400 each year. In 2022, a zero-rate of VAT was introduced on energy efficiency measures, and a digitally led service ‘find ways to save energy in your home’ (https://www.gov.uk/improve-energy-efficiency) was launched. This site provides guidance helping consumers make their homes greener and cheaper to run, supported by a call centre for assistance.

Department for Work and Pensions

Personal Independence Payment: Greater London

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people who were not awarded the Personal Independence Payment following (a) the initial decision and (b) mandatory reconsideration (i) lodged an appeal which then lapsed in each of the last five years and (ii) were awarded at least one enhanced component in (A) Enfield North constituency, (B) Enfield and (C) Greater London in each of the last five years.

Tom Pursglove: The tables below show the number and proportion of individuals awarded Personal Independence Payment (PIP), due to a lapsed appeal, following an initial decision and a mandatory reconsideration decision to not award PIP by the financial year of the initial decision for the specified geographical breakdown. Volumes and proportions of this group receiving at least one enhanced component of PIP have also been provided. Table 1: Parliamentary Constituency of Enfield NorthFinancial Year of Initial DecisionNumber of individuals awarded PIP due to a lapsed appeal, following an initial decision and MR decision to not award PIPProportion of those not awarded PIP following an initial decision and MR decision, that were awarded PIP due to a lapsed appealNumber of individuals awarded PIP due to a lapsed appeal, following an initial decision and MR decision to not award PIP and receiving at least one enhanced componentProportion of those awarded PIP due to a lapsed appeal, following an initial decision and MR decision to not award PIP receiving at least one enhanced component2018/19105%1060%2019/203017%2058%2020/212018%2077%2021/22106%1050%2022/23*106%--   Table 2: London Borough of EnfieldFinancial Year of Initial DecisionNumber of individuals awarded PIP due to a lapsed appeal, following an initial decision and MR decision to not award PIPProportion of those not awarded PIP following an initial decision and MR decision, that were awarded PIP due to a lapsed appealNumber of individuals awarded PIP due to a lapsed appeal, following an initial decision and MR decision to not award PIP and receiving at least one enhanced componentProportion of those awarded PIP due to a lapsed appeal, following an initial decision and MR decision to not award PIP receiving at least one enhanced component2018/19206%1055%2019/205013%3058%2020/215013%3068%2021/22308%1036%2022/23*105%1036% Table 3: Greater LondonFinancial Year of Initial DecisionNumber of individuals awarded PIP due to a lapsed appeal, following an initial decision and MR decision to not award PIPProportion of those not awarded PIP following an initial decision and MR decision, that were awarded PIP due to a lapsed appealNumber of individuals awarded PIP due to a lapsed appeal, following an initial decision and MR decision to not award PIP and receiving at least one enhanced componentProportion of those awarded PIP due to a lapsed appeal, following an initial decision and MR decision to not award PIP receiving at least one enhanced component2018/197608%41054%2019/2098011%53054%2020/211,14014%63055%2021/229609%47049%2022/23*3005%13041% Please note:Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 and percentages are rounded to the nearest percent. Any figures below 5 are represented by “-“ and any percentages related to figures below 5 will also be represented by “-“;Data for England and Wales (excluding Scotland) has been provided in line with the latest published figures on PIP;These figures include initial decisions following assessment for PIP (New Claims and Reassessments) up to 30th September 2022, the latest date for which published data is available;These figures include appeal and mandatory reconsideration outcomes up to 31st December 2022, the latest date for which published data is available. Note that more appeals could be made and completed after December 2022, so numbers may change as it can take some time for an appeal to be lodged and then cleared after the initial decision;The 2022/23 financial year is therefore incomplete; andA lapsed appeal is where the DWP changed the decision in the customer’s favour after an appeal was lodged, but before it was heard at a tribunal hearing.

Special Educational Needs: Employment Schemes

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what SEND-specific training the Government plans to provide to (a) Job Centre Work Coaches and (b) Work and Health Programme staff as part of its proposals on ensuring those services provide people with (i) dyslexia and (ii) other learning difficulties with adequate employment support.

Tom Pursglove: The DWP Work Coaches receive comprehensive learning to support customers with health, disability and additional or complex needs, which continues at point of need throughout their role. The learning provides Work Coaches with the knowledge and skills to enable them to support claimants moving towards employment. Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) is included in the Vulnerable Customer and Complex Needs product, which forms part of the DWP Induction learning for all colleagues. This learning supports Work Coaches and Health Programme staff in working with customers to identify barriers they may face and to signpost customers to internal and external sources of help and support; this includes customers with learning difficulties and dyslexia. As part of the Work Coach specific learning journey, they complete Claimant Commitment learning which focuses on: Taking into account a claimant’s capability and circumstances; andWorking with their claimants to create tailored commitments that reflect their abilities and skills, and sets out activities to support them secure employment, or prepare for work they can do in the future. The Work Coach learning journey also includes modules on Vulnerable Customers; this product focuses on supporting customers with additional complex needs, including learning difficulties, move closer to, and into, the labour market. Work Coaches continue to build on this learning in the workplace.

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people who were not awarded the Personal Independence Payment following (a) the initial decision and (b) mandatory reconsideration (i) lodged an appeal which then lapsed in each of the last five years and (ii) were awarded at least one enhanced component.

Tom Pursglove: The table below shows the number and proportion of individuals awarded Personal Independence Payment (PIP) due to a lapsed appeal, following an initial decision and a mandatory reconsideration decision to not award PIP by the financial year of the initial decision. Volumes and proportions of this group receiving at least one enhanced component of PIP have also been provided. Financial Year of Initial DecisionNumber of individuals awarded PIP due to a lapsed appeal, following an initial decision and MR decision to not award PIPProportion of those not awarded PIP following an initial decision and MR decision, that were awarded PIP due to a lapsed appealNumber of individuals awarded PIP due to a lapsed appeal, following an initial decision and MR decision to not award PIP and receiving at least one enhanced componentProportion of those awarded PIP due to a lapsed appeal, following an initial decision and MR decision to not award PIP receiving at least one enhanced component2018/196,4008%3,50054%2019/208,70011%4,70055%2020/218,00014%4,10051%2021/227,1009%3,20044%2022/23*2,8005%1,10039% Please note:Figures are rounded to the nearest 100 and percentages to the nearest percent;Data for England and Wales (excluding Scotland) has been provided in line with the latest published figures on PIP;These figures include initial decisions following assessment for PIP (New Claims and Reassessments) up to 30th September 2022, the latest date for which published data is available;These figures include appeal and mandatory reconsideration outcomes up to 31st December 2022, the latest date for which published data is available. Note that more appeals could be made and completed after December 2022, so numbers may change as it can take some time for an appeal to be lodged and then cleared after the initial decision;The 2022/23 financial year is therefore incomplete; andA lapsed appeal is where the DWP changed the decision in the customer’s favour after an appeal was lodged, but before it was heard at a tribunal hearing.

Universal Credit: Deductions

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the ten largest monthly deductions taken from Universal Credit payments were in the last 12 months for which data is available.

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average monthly third party deduction taken from Universal Credit payments was in the last 12 months for which data is available.

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in the last 12 months for which data is available, what was the average monthly deduction taken from Universal Credit payments specifically for Council Tax purposes.

Guy Opperman: Tables 1 & 2, in the attached spreadsheet, provide figures for the average monthly third-party deduction and the average monthly council tax deduction for the period December-21 to November-22. Data for the ten largest monthly deductions taken from Universal Credit payments is not readily available and to provide this would incur disproportionate cost.Attachment (xlsx, 10.6KB)

Mining: Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the administration of the health assessments for Industrial Injuries Disablement benefits by the Centre for Health and Disability Assessments on former mineworkers.

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the expertise of assessors who are conducting health assessments for Industrial Injuries Disablement benefits on former mineworkers in taking into account the often-complex health issues they are likely to have.

Tom Pursglove: The assessment provider, Centre for Health and Disability Assessments (CHDA), is required to ensure that all healthcare professionals (HCP) carrying out Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) assessments have sufficient training and knowledge of the clinical aspects, and likely overall functional effects of, a wide range of health conditions and impairments. IIDB assessments are undertaken by doctors who have successfully completed an initial IIDB training programme. If they are assessing a respiratory disease, they must complete additional respiratory disease training; which ensures that the HCPs are fully competent in managing the complex health issues that mineworkers may suffer from. Assessment quality is a priority for both CHDA and the department. We work closely with disabled people and their representatives to shape how assessments are delivered and to improve every stage of the claimant journey. This includes making improvements to guidance, training, and audit procedures to ensure a quality service.

Employment: Special Educational Needs

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the impact of the health adjustment passport on barriers to employment for jobseekers with special educational needs.

Tom Pursglove: My department has worked with stakeholders to develop and deliver an Adjustments Passport to support transitions into employment for all disabled people and people with health conditions, and to test this concept in a variety of settings. The Health Adjustments Passport was introduced from May 2022 to support disabled jobseekers. Whilst jobseekers with special educational needs form part of the Health Adjustments Passport customer base, no specific assessment has been made for this group of disabled people, as the Health Adjustments Passport is available to all disabled people and people with health conditions who need adjustment support within the workplace. Recognising the value the Adjustments Passport can have for young disabled people when transitioning from education to employment, we are also currently testing the Adjustments Passport with Supported Internships, Traineeships and Apprenticeships. This will include people with special educational needs and will use this learning to inform next steps.

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has a current target call wait time for individual members of the public contacting the Disability Service Centre phoneline regarding (a) Personal Independence Payments, (b) Disability Living Allowance and (c) Attendance Allowance.

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time was on calls to the disability service centre for queries on (a) Personal Independence Payments, (b) the Disability Living Allowance and (c) the Attendance Allowance in the latest period for which data is available.

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is taking steps to reduce the average waiting time on calls to the disability service centre for queries on (a) Personal Independence Payments, (b) the Disability Living Allowance and (c) the Attendance Allowance.

Tom Pursglove: There are no current targets for the Average Speed of Answer (ASA) for calls to the PIP, DLA and AA telephone enquiry lines. The average waiting times for the PIP, DLA and AA telephone enquiry lines for the month of March 2023 were: PIP - 00:37:01DLA - 00:33:36AA – 00:02:11DLA65+ - 00:06:22 We are currently experiencing higher than forecast call volumes to the PIP and DLA telephony enquiry lines. We have recruited additional staff onto our telephony teams and have on-going recruitment to further increase resources. The average speed of answering calls within AA and DLA65+ is within acceptable levels.

Employment Schemes: Disability

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how employers will be directed to the new online Support with Employee Health and Disability service.

Tom Pursglove: At the moment, the Support with Employee Health and Disability service remains under development and is in public live testing. We have collaborated with ACAS, HSE, and business organisations and trade associations, to share links to the test version of the service with employers. The longer-term approach to directing businesses to this information will be informed by user test findings.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Matt Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to tackle benefit fraud.

Tom Pursglove: Our Fraud Plan, Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System, published on 19 May 2022, sets out our approach and explains how additional investment is allowing us to recruit 1,400 more staff into our counter-fraud teams and develop enhanced data analytics as a means of preventing and detecting fraud and error.Additionally, we are creating a dedicated team to deliver Targeted Case Reviews of existing Universal Credit claims. This supports wider Government aims of strong oversight and control and efficiently managing the public purse. Over the next five years we expect to review over 2 million potentially high-risk claims, including suspicious cases which entered our system at the height of the pandemic.More information on our Fraud Plan, which also explains our ambition to modernise and strengthen our legislative framework, can be found here:Fighting Fraud in the Welfare System - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the policy paper entitled Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper, published on 15 March 2023, how many people have participated in the Severe Disability Group test.

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the policy paper entitled Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper, published on 15 March 2023, what criteria his Department used to select participants in the Severe Disability Group test.

Tom Pursglove: We have moved forward with our plans to test the SDG. We have worked with an expert group of specialist health professionals to draw up a set of draft criteria for eligibility. These criteria were shared with several charities and their feedback was used to improve our draft criteria, which will be further developed in the testing process. The draft criteria focus on severe, long-term impairment and we will share further details as we go through testing. Testing for the Severe Disability Group is still ongoing. This policy is being tested on a small scale across a range of health conditions. We will then gather insight from service users, DWP staff, and organisations to make sure it works as intended.

Personal Independence Payment: Autism

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help people receive updated autism assessments for use in Personal Independence Payment applications; whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of creating a system for people to formally register an autism diagnosis for use in future Personal Independence Payment applications; and whether his Department is taking steps to provide financial support to people with autism who do not qualify for Personal Independence Payments.

Tom Pursglove: Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is intended to act as a contribution towards the extra costs that arise from needs related to a long-term health condition or disability. Entitlement is assessed on the basis of the needs arising from the health condition or disability, rather than a diagnosis of the health condition or disability itself. Any information that a claimant wishes to submit in support of their claim can be considered where that would help establish the needs arising, including an autism assessment. We have no plans to change these arrangements. Someone with autism who does not qualify for PIP may be entitled to other forms of financial support such as Employment and Support Allowance or Universal Credit.

Unemployment: Travel

James Daly: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate her Department has made of the proportion of people currently classed as (a) economically inactive, (b) unemployed for any length of time and (c) unemployed for over nine months who have (i) a driving licence and (ii) access to a car, motorbike or other form of private motorisedtransport.

Guy Opperman: The information requested is not held by the department.

Pensioners: Poverty

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate he has made of the number of pensioners living in poverty in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London.

Laura Trott: National and regional statistics on the number and percentage of pensioners in low income are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication, and can be found at: Households below average income: for financial years ending 1995 to 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Pensioners: Poverty

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate he has made of the number of pensioners living in poverty in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England.

Laura Trott: National and regional statistics on the number of pensioners in low income are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication, and can be found at: Households below average income: for financial years ending 1995 to 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Personal Independence Payment

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to provide additional resources to support the processing of any increase in Personal Independence Payment applications when the transitional protection for the limited capability for work and work-related activity top-up is phased out.

Tom Pursglove: We continually review both current and forecast demand with a view to informing levels of resource required to meet delivery aspirations. Recruitment is currently underway to provide increased resource to meet current demand and known future requirements. These resource plans are regularly reviewed and adjusted to allow for future impacts and would consider in future anything related to the White Paper and the potential removal of the WCA process.

Personal Independence Payment

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Personal Independence Payment applicants were awaiting a (a) decision (b) mandatory reconsideration decision and (c) tribunal hearing on 20 April 2023.

Tom Pursglove: For questions a) and b), data in line with the relevant latest published statistics has been provided, rather than the requested 20th April 2023. a) The number of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) applicants who were awaiting a decision in January 2023 was 207,000.   Source: PIP Atomic Data Store (ADS). Notes:Data excludes Scotland, in line with the latest published figures on PIP;Figure is for new claims normal rules only; andFigure is rounded to the nearest 1,000.b) There were 12,800 PIP mandatory reconsiderations awaiting a decision on 30th September 2022. Source: PIP ADS. Notes:Figure is rounded to the nearest 100;Data excludes Scotland, in line with the latest published figures on PIP; andThe figure includes initial decisions following assessment for PIP (New Claims and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) Reassessments) up to 30th September 2022, the latest date for which published data is available. c) There were 36,400 PIP claims awaiting a tribunal hearing in December 2022. This figure has been provided by the Ministry of Justice. Notes: Figure is for PIP including DLA Reassessments;Management information reflects the data held on the case management system, which is subject to change, and can differ from the quality-assured MOJ official statistics, which form the agreed definitive position; and Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that the data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when data are used.

Department for Business and Trade

Parcels: Competition

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of competition in the parcels market.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Postal Services Act 2011 designates Ofcom as the independent regulator for the postal sector. To ensure its regulatory framework continues to work effectively, Ofcom monitors a range of factors, including competition and developments in the parcels market.Ofcom publishes an annual summary of its monitoring programme setting out key data and trends in the postal sector on its website: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/postal-services/information-for-the-postal-industry/monitoring_reports.

Minerals: Energy Supply and Renewable Energy

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what UK minerals his Department accepts as critical to clean technology and energy security.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: In 2022 the British Geological Survey (BGS) carried out its first criticality assessment and, according to economic vulnerability and supply risk, defined a cohort of minerals with high criticality for the UK: https://www.bgs.ac.uk/download/uk-criticality-assessment-of-technology-critical-minerals-and-metals/. The Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (CMIC) – led by the BGS – will evaluate the criticality of minerals on a regular basis, with the next assessment scheduled later this year. In addition, the industry-led Task and Finish Group on Critical Mineral Resilience, announced as part of the Critical Minerals Strategy Refresh on 23rd March, is investigating critical mineral dependencies, vulnerabilities, and opportunities across UK industry sectors, including manufacturers for clean energy technologies.

Bridges and Hotels: St Kitts and Nevis

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department has provided support for (a) building a bridge between St Kitts and Nevis and (b) the Sea City development in St Kitts and Nevis.

Nigel Huddleston: My department has a team which covers the Caribbean and is in regular contact with governments and businesses, actively seeking export and investment opportunities for British firms. We are working with a number of UK companies on infrastructure projects in the region and would be delighted to discuss these opportunities with any UK exporters the Member is aware of. Please contact DITLATAC@fcdo.gov.uk. Furthermore, Department for Business and Trade trade advisers in the region can provide dedicated, well-informed guidance on viable long-term commercial prospects across the Caribbean, including St Kitts and Nevis.

Overseas Trade: St Kitts and Nevis

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what guidance her Department issues on access to UK markets for St Kitts and Nevis.

Nigel Huddleston: The UK has a trade agreement with 14 Caribbean States, including St Kitts and Nevis. The UK-CARIFORUM Economic Partnership Agreement provides detailed information on St Kitts and Nevis’ preferential access to UK markets, including duty-free access on goods. To assist access to UK markets, Gov.uk also provides a range of tools and resources for exporters. A key resource is the tariff-look up tool that can be used to search commodity codes, duties and VAT rates on exports to the UK. There is also guidance on finding trade partners, such as importers and retailers, to assist with trade in the UK.

Taxis

Mrs Paulette Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will have discussions with (a) Uber and (b) other private hire operators on their practices for deactivating drivers’ accounts.

Kevin Hollinrake: While the Government is unable to comment on the working practices of individual companies, we are clear that everyone deserves to be treated fairly at work and rewarded for their contribution to the economy. The Supreme Court’s judgment on Uber was clear that those who qualify as workers under existing employment law are entitled to core employment rights. Anyone who needs help determining their employment rights may wish to seek advice from the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas), who deal with questions from employers, individuals, and others about a wide range of employment relations matters.

Holiday Leave: Parents

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of requiring employers to allow staff to take leave during school holidays.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Government has published guidance setting out the flexibility that employers and workers have when booking annual leave. Where possible workers should agree their holiday dates in advance, giving twice the amount of notice as the amount of leave they want to take. Employers can refuse annual leave requests at certain times with good reason, however they cannot refuse to let workers take their leave at all. If an employer needs a worker to take holiday on certain dates, they should tell them at least twice as many days before as the number of days they need a worker to take.

Royal Mail

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has met with Daniel Kretinsky on the future of Royal Mail.

Kevin Hollinrake: I met representatives of Vesa Equity Investment, including Daniel Kretinsky, in January 2023 to discuss a wide range of issues across their current and potential future UK investments.

Treasury

Ukraine: Humanitarian Aid

Hilary Benn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2023 to Question 176568 on Ukraine: Humanitarian Aid, whether his Department has a planned timescale for the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation to issue a licence to allow funds from the sale of Chelsea FC to be spent on humanitarian aid in Ukraine.

Gareth Davies: In May 2022, the Government committed that the Treasury will only issue a licence which ensures that the proceeds are used exclusively for humanitarian purposes in Ukraine.   HM Treasury does not discuss specific licence applications. The Treasury considers each application on its merits and will only issue a licence where there are grounds to do so in the relevant legislation. Whilst OFSI assesses each application on its own merits, OFSI will prioritise the assessment of humanitarian cases.

Money

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to help digitally enfranchise the elder generation and vulnerable groups as cash use becomes less accepted in society.

Andrew Griffith: The government is committed to the aim of ensuring that people, regardless of their background or income, have access to useful and affordable digital financial products and services. Access to a bank account is an important way to help achieve this. The government has legislated to require the nine largest personal current account providers in the UK to provide basic bank accounts, so customers are equipped with a bank card and can access digital banking and payment services. As of June 2022, 7.4 million basic bank accounts were open. In addition, like all service providers, banks and building societies are bound under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments, where necessary, in the way they deliver their services. To facilitate the adoption of digital services more broadly, the government is also supporting the roll-out of digital connectivity across the UK and improving access to digital skills training for adults.The government also recognises that cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK including those in vulnerable groups. The government is taking legislation to protect access to cash across the UK through Parliament as part of the Financial Services and Markets Bill. Further details can be found on the Parliament website: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3326

New Businesses: VAT

James Wild: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of the VAT threshold on small business growth.

Victoria Atkins: The UK has a higher VAT registration threshold than any EU member state and second highest in the OECD – which keeps the majority of UK businesses out of VAT altogether.The Government have also put in place a generous package of Business Rates relief worth £13.6 billion.The Government has demonstrated its long-standing commitment to supporting small businesses. At Spring Budget, the Government confirmed that, from April 2023, the Small Profits Rate will mean 70 per cent of businesses will see no increase in Corporation Tax this April. In fact, the UK has the lowest corporation tax rate in the G7.In addition, the Government continues to invest in the 38 Growth Hubs providing businesses across England with free one-to-one support and advice. Growth Hubs offer a triage, diagnostic and signposting service to make sure that all businesses, whatever their size or sector, know what help is available and can access the most appropriate support.While the Government keeps all taxes under review, it was announced at Autumn Budget 2022 that the VAT threshold will be maintained at its current level of £85,000 until 31 March 2026.

Developing Countries: Debts

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Chancellor for the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of progress on sovereign debt restructuring processes for low and middle-income states at the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable on 12 April 2023; and what his priorities are for the next Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable.

Andrew Griffith: The focus of discussion at the last Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable (GSDR) was around the actions that can be taken now to accelerate debt restructuring processes and make them more efficient. I fully endorse the agreement reached to: (1) improve information sharing at early stages of restructurings; and (2) discuss further the assessment and enforcement of comparability of treatment during restructurings. These deliverables will support the swift implementation of the Common Framework and other debt treatments that involve a diverse range of creditors, which is a priority for the UK at the G20 and other fora where debt is discussed, including the GSDR.

Small Businesses: Government Assistance

Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to provide fiscal support for (a) takeaways and (b) other small and micro businesses.

Gareth Davies: The Government has demonstrated its long-standing commitment to supporting small and micro businesses, entrepreneurs, and businesses on our high streets, including takeaways. At Spring Budget, we confirmed that, from April 2023, the Small Profits Rate will mean 70% of businesses will see no increase in Corporation Tax this April. In fact, the UK has the lowest corporation tax rate in the G7. In addition, the UK also has a higher VAT registration threshold than any EU member state and second highest in the OECD – which keeps the majority of UK businesses out of VAT altogether. We have also put in place a generous package of Business Rates relief worth £13.6 billion. The Government continues to invest in the 38 Growth Hubs providing businesses across England with free one-to-one support and advice. Growth Hubs offer a triage, diagnostic and signposting service to make sure that all businesses, whatever their size or sector, know what help is available and can access the most appropriate support.

Financial Services: St Kitts and Nevis

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support his Department provides to the financial regulatory authorities of St Kitts and Nevis.

Andrew Griffith: Officials have found no record of support being provided to the St Kitts and Nevis financial regulatory authorities in recent times, nor have they found any record of such support being requested. The department stands ready to consider any reasonable request from the government. It may be helpful to note that St Kitts and Nevis are a participant in the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre (CARTAC), which is one of the IMF’S Regional Capacity Development Centers, to which the Government provides core funding, via the FCDO. And Financial supervision is one of the CARTAC’s standing work strands. It may also be noteworthy that St Kitts and Nevis has benefitted, indirectly, from support in strengthening its response to illicit finance by virtue of the UK’s voluntary contributions to the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force.

Childcare

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of good quality childcare on levels of economic productivity.

John Glen: Investing in high quality childcare can support economic growth and productivity, through its impact on parental participation in the labour market and children’s future success in education and in the labour market.At Spring Budget 2023, the government announced that it will expand the free childcare hours offer so that eligible working parents in England will be able to access 30 hours of free childcare per week for 38 weeks of the year. HM Treasury does not prepare formal forecasts for the UK economy, including assessments of the impact of the Budget, which are the responsibility of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). As a result of this policy, the OBR estimated around 60,000 to enter employment by 2027-28, as well as increase the hours worked by mothers already in work. The OBR judged this policy to have the largest impact on potential output in this Budget. Further details can be found in the OBR’s latest Economic and Fiscal Outlook published in March 2023: https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-march-2023/The government also announced a substantial uplift to the hourly rate paid to providers to deliver the existing free hours offers, providing £204 million in 2023-24, paid from September 2023, and £288 million in 2024-25. This will help providers manage cost pressures, develop the necessary capacity to deliver the new free hours offers, and raise the quality of provision. According to the IFS, attending high quality early years settings has a positive impact on children’s future success in education and in the labour market, with higher lifetime earnings.

Unpaid Taxes

James Murray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2023 to Question 165453 on Taxation: Fines, how many penalties issued by HM Revenue and Customs which are recorded on the National Penalty Processing System (NPPS) for Failure to Notify amounted to less than £1,000 in each of the last five years.

James Murray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2023 to Question 165453 on Taxation: Fines, how many penalties issued by HM Revenue and Customs which are recorded on the National Penalty Processing System (NPPS) for Failure to Notify amounted to £1,000 to £9,999 in each of the last five years.

James Murray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2023 to Question 165453 on Taxation: Fines, how many penalties issued by HM Revenue and Customs which are recorded on the National Penalty Processing System (NPPS) for Failure to Notify amounted to £10,000 to £99,999 in each of the last five years.

James Murray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2023 to Question 165453 on Taxation: Fines, how many penalties issued by HM Revenue and Customs recorded on the National Penalty Processing System (NPPS) for Failure to Notify amounted to £100,000 to £999,999 in each of the last five years.

James Murray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2023 to Question 165453 on Taxation: Fines, how many penalties issued by HM Revenue and Customs recorded on the National Penalty Processing System (NPPS) for Failure to Notify amounted to £1,000,000 or above in each of the last five years.

Victoria Atkins: The National Penalty Processing System (NPPS) is used by HMRC to record certain types of information, in particular penalties for: Inaccuracies within returns and documentsFailure to NotifyDeliberate Withholding of Information NPPS is a standalone system for these purposes only. It is not used to record all penalties charged by HMRC across all of its compliance or wider activities. We have interpreted your request as relating to the penalties charged for failure to notify. The total penalties recorded on NPPS for failure to notify per penalty case in each of the relevant years are: Table of data  2017/182018/192019/202020/212021/22Total35,67221,20315,9649,14218,433 As stated above, NPPS does not record all penalties charged by HMRC, and these figures should not be taken to represent a complete picture of HMRC compliance activity. Every year, HMRC collects and protects billions of pounds of tax revenue that would otherwise have been lost to the Exchequer through error, fraud or other forms of non-compliance.

Economic Crime

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to Economic crime plan 2023 to 2026, published on 30 March 2023, if he will provide a breakdown of the £200 million funding for tackling economic crime in the Spending Review period by (a) the Government Departments and agencies which will receive the funding and (b) how it breaks down into (i) resource departmental expenditure limits (RDEL), (ii) resource annually managed expenditure (AME), (iii) capital departmental expenditure limits (CDEL) and (iv) Capital AME.

John Glen: The second Economic Crime Plan is underpinned by significant investment of £400 million from financial year 2022/23 to financial year 2024/25. This funding represents £200 million of government investment and £200 million from the Economic Crime (Anti-Money Laundering) Levy, which together provide sustainable, long-term funding to combat economic crime.   The Economic Crime (Anti-Money Laundering) Levy funding will be used over the next three years to benefit the entire anti-money laundering system in both the public and private sectors. This includes investing over £100 million in technology, funding for more skilled financial crime investigators, specialist intelligence teams, and the UK Financial Intelligence Unit. Additionally, it will fund a team to accelerate the reform of the AML supervisory supervision regime. In tandem, funding announced at Spending Review 2021 will continue to support reform of the Suspicious Activity Reports regime, reform of Companies House, and the work of HM Treasury's Illicit Finance Technical Assistance Unit (TAU).For further details please see the Spending Review 2021 document which can be found here:   Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021: documents - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Stephen Farry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reducing the level of VAT applying to public EV Charging from 20 per cent to 5 per cent.

Victoria Atkins: Introducing a VAT relief for public EV charging would impose additional pressure on the public finances, to which VAT makes a significant contribution. Any reduction in tax paid is a reduction in the money available to support important public services, including the NHS, education and defence. Although there are no current plans to change the VAT treatment of electricity supplied at public EV charge points, the Government is committed to supporting the transition to zero emission vehicles to help the UK meet its net zero obligations. The Government has already spent over £2 billion to support the transition. This funding has focused on reducing barriers to the adoption of such vehicles, including offsetting their higher upfront cost and accelerating the rollout of chargepoint infrastructure.

Childcare: Tax Allowances

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of raising the upper limit of the tax-free childcare allowance in the context of rising nursery fees.

John Glen: Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) provides financial support for working parents with their childcare costs. For every £8 parents pay into their childcare account, the Government adds £2 up to a maximum of £2,000 in top up per year for each child up to age 11 and up to £4,000 per disabled child until they are 17. The Government recognises the importance of supporting parents with the costs of childcare and continues to support families with a range of other childcare offers. At Spring Budget 2023, the Government announced that it will expand the free childcare hours offer, so that eligible working parents in England will be able to access 30 hours of free childcare per week for 38 weeks per year from when their child is 9 months old, to when they start school. Parents who are not eligible for 30 hours may still be able to access other offers: all three- and four-year-olds can access 15 hours of free childcare per week, regardless of circumstance; and two-year-olds who meet certain social and economic criteria can receive 15 free hours per week. This additional investment at Spring Budget will bring total Government support for childcare to over £10bn by 2027/28. In addition, parents working on Universal Credit claimants are able to claim up to 85 per cent of their childcare costs At Spring Budget, the government announced it would increase the Universal Credit childcare maximum amounts to £951 for 1 child and £1,630 for 2 children, as well as ensuring parents moving into work or increasing their hours have support with childcare costs upfront when they need it.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Digital Technology: Competition

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, when her Department plans to publish the Digital Markets Competition and Consumers Bill.

Paul Scully: The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill was introduced in the House of Commons on Tuesday 25 April.

Research: Finance

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Integrated Review, published in March 2021, whether it remains the Government's policy to spend 2.4 per cent of GDP on R&D by 2027.

George Freeman: In the 2017 Industrial Strategy, the Government committed to increasing UK economy-wide investment in Research and Development (R&D) to 2.4% of GDP by 2027. Last year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) updated its R&D data methodology to better represent R&D performed in small businesses and higher education institutions throughout the UK. The updated figures suggest that the UK’s total investment in R&D reached 2.6-2.7% of GDP in 2019 and 2.9-3% in 2020, exceeding our “2.4% by 2027” target. The Government is now taking time to consider a range of options.

Social Media: Disinformation

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has had recent discussions with social media companies on tackling the dissemination of automated disinformation.

Paul Scully: The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s Ministers and officials regularly meet with a range of social media platforms to aid our understanding of the spread of misinformation and disinformation narratives on their services and the steps they are taking to address this. This includes understanding platforms’ terms of service on the use of inauthentic behaviours to amplify content, and manipulated media, for example videos that have been developed or manipulated using AI or machine learning.

Ministry of Justice

Judiciary: St Kitts and Nevis

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what links his Department has with the judiciary of St Kitts and Nevis.

Mike Freer: The Ministry of Justice has had no recent engagement or links with the judiciary of St Kitts and Nevis.

Central Criminal Court

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many sentencing hearings at the Old Bailey were rescheduled because a holding cell was not available in the year ending 31 March 2023; and whether his Department is taking steps to ensure future sentencing hearings at the Old Bailey are not rescheduled for that reason.

Mike Freer: No sentencing hearings at the Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey) were rescheduled due to a lack of holding cell availability in the financial year ending 31 March 2023. We do not expect this to be a reason for rescheduling sentencing hearings in future either. We continue to work with our external partners to ensure pressures across the criminal justice system are managed appropriately and to deliver justice for the public.

Legal Aid Scheme

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will consider the potential merits of introducing a sliding scale for eligibility for legal aid.

Mike Freer: The Government is currently undertaking a review of legal aid means testing across England and Wales and will publish its response in due course. The review sets out proposals for means testing in the round, including the thresholds for legal aid entitlement and the eligibility arrangements for those receiving welfare benefits Legal Aid Means Test Review - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Legal aid remains a devolved matter in Northern Ireland and issues related to both the policy and delivery of such services fall to the Department of Justice for Northern Ireland and the Legal Services Agency Northern Ireland.

Senior Courts Costs Office

Dame Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases are awaiting review at the Senior Courts Costs Office; and if he will make an assessment of the impact of the number of cases on the work of the Court of Protection.

Mike Freer: The Senior Courts Costs Office (SCCO) assess bills of cost arising from proceedings in the High Court, London County Courts and Tribunals and the Court of Protection. The only cases currently being dealt with by the SCCO outside target timescales are those arising from Court of Protection proceedings. As of 14 April 2023, there were 5,975 Court of Protection bills of cost awaiting assessment.  This is made up of 5,544 bills under £35,000 with waiting times of 38 weeks and 431 bills with a value of between £35,000 and £100,000 with waiting times of 47 weeks.  The current time taken to issue a certificate in Court of Protection cases is 20 days from the assessment having been agreed.  The party then submits the certificate to the Office of Public Guardian to authorise payment from the protected party’s fund. Solicitors are not required to wait until the SCCO has assessed their bill and issued the certificate before receiving payment for costs. Court of Protection Rules enable solicitors to reimburse themselves for work undertaken in the first three-quarters of the year up to a maximum of 75% of the estimated annual charges. The total figure approved by the SCCO is adjusted to reflect any such payments made during the course of the year. The SCCO is running a pilot in which professional deputies appointed by the Court of Protection, their legal representatives and other legal professionals involved in Court of Protection cases, may file their bills in respect of general management and other applications electronically where the relevant authority has been obtained from the Court of Protection. The pilot of this electronic and expedited process is due to conclude on 28 April 2023. HMCTS is committed to reducing the time taken to deal with Court of Protection Bills and has also reallocated resource to help with this.

Metals: Theft

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many scrap metal operators were prosecuted for (a) not holding a licence and (b) paying cash for scrap metal in the last three years; and how many and what proportion of those prosecutions resulted in a conviction.

Edward Argar: The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of defendants prosecuted and convicted for offences under the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 (offence code 19534) within the last three years, in the following tool:Outcomes by Offence Data Tool: June 2022.A breakdown of the prosecutions and convictions for (a) not holding a licence and (b) paying cash for scrap metal for year ending June 2020 to year ending June 2022, issued at all courts in England and Wales, has been provided in Table 1 on a principal offence basis.Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 table (xlsx, 18.5KB)

Department for Transport

Heathrow Airport: Tourists

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of Heathrow Airport's decision to not introduce a travel cap for travellers during Christmas 2022 on the level of tourists entering the UK.

Jesse Norman: Heathrow airport had a successful Christmas 2022. According to CAA Airport Data, Heathrow handled just under 6 million passengers throughout the month of December 2022, approximately 89% of the number of passengers in December 2019. Decisions on passenger capacity are the responsibility of airports and so in this case is a decision for Heathrow Airport Limited.

Driving Tests: Waiting Lists

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average waiting times are for a practical driving test appointment in (a) Oxfordshire and (b) England.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to delays in driving test appointments, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the eligiblity of a successful driving theory test from two years to three years.

Mr Richard Holden: During March 2023, the average waiting time for a car practical driving test in the Oxfordshire area was 14.3 weeks; the national average waiting time was 15.5 weeks.People can book driving tests up to 6 months before they take their test.It is important road safety knowledge and hazard perception skills are up to date at the critical point a person drives unsupervised for the first time. The maximum duration of two years between passing the theory test and a subsequent practical test is in place to ensure a candidate’s road safety knowledge and ability to identify developing hazards is current. This validity period is set in legislation and the Government has no current plans to lay further legislation to extend it.

M25: Litter

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has received any information on the cleanliness standard of the M25 embankments, carriageways, hard shoulders, slip roads around Junction 25.

Mr Richard Holden: National Highways confirms that the most recent assessment of Junction 25 of the M25 was carried out on 7 April 2023 and the area was scored as a Grade B (Predominately free of litter and refuse apart from some small items). This area is next due to be graded on 21 April 2023. NH has carried out litter collections on the slip roads over the course of the last two weeks. They have the following planned closures booked to address litter collections and other maintenance activities in the area; M25 Junctions 25 to 27 on the 15th to 19th May; and M25 Junctions 27 to 25 on the 22nd to 26th May.

Roads: Weaver Vale

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) roads are adequately maintained and (b) potholes are fixed promptly in Weaver Vale constituency.

Mr Richard Holden: The Weaver Vale constituency straddles two local authority areas, namely Cheshire West and Chester and Halton Borough Council. Over the three-year period between 2022/23 - 2024/25, the Government is providing over £31.5 million to Cheshire West and Chester Council towards the maintenance of the local highway network in their area through the highways maintenance block (HMB) and the Potholes Fund.It is up to Cheshire West and Chester how best to spend this funding to fulfil their statutory duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980. The Department encourages good practice in highway maintenance through channels such as the Well Managed Highway Infrastructure Code of Practice produced by the UK Roads Leadership Group (UKRLG). Halton Borough Council are a constituent member of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA). During the five-year period between 2022/23 - 2026/27, the Government is providing LCRCA with £710 million through their City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS). The funding settlement is for investment in the local transport networks in the Liverpool City Region, as outlined in LCRCA’s business case and delivery plan. LCRCA received an additional £3.75 million as part of the share of the £200 million announced at Budget 2023.

Bus Services: Finance

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding his Department has provided (a) for the provision of £2 single fares and (b) in total for bus services in each (i) local authority and (ii) parliamentary constituency since March 2020.

Mr Richard Holden: The Government is providing up to £135 million to help over 140 operators covering more than 5,000 routes in England outside London cap single fares at £2 from 1 January to 30 June. The majority of funding is paid to commercial operators, and the amount each individual operator receives is commercially sensitive. A small number of Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) have received funding for a particular type of service to participate in the scheme. The Government has also provided over £2 billion in emergency and recovery funding to bus operators and all English LTAs outside London since March 2020. LTAs have been allocated around £282 million of this funding. Where LTAs have received allocations for the £2 fare cap or through emergency and recovery funding grants, they are free to publish information on their funding allocations. Funding to commercial operators is not currently recorded in a way that allows it to be easily reported by local authority or by parliamentary constituency. The Department for Transport also provides around £250m every year through the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) to bus operators and LTAs help support services. £42 million of this funding is provided to LTAs and details on yearly allocations can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bus-service-operators-grant-payments-to-local-authorities-from-2013-onwards.

Road Traffic: Rural Areas

Alberto Costa: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce traffic congestion (a) on rural roads and (b) in rural communities.

Mr Richard Holden: Managing the traffic on local roads is the responsibility of the local traffic authorities. They are subject to a network management duty which requires them to manage their roads to deliver expeditious movement of traffic, including pedestrians. A wide range of tools is already available to help them to manage congestion and traffic flow. In addition, the Department for Transport provides substantial funding to local authorities to improve their respective networks to help and alleviate congestion and promote better provide improved infrastructure, including for public transport and cycling and walking through the ‘Major Road Network’ (MRN), ‘Large Local Majors’ (LLM) and Levelling Up Fund initiatives.

Reading Green Park Station

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the cost of constructing Reading Green Park station.

Huw Merriman: The Department anticipates the cost of constructing Reading Green Park station will be £25.123m. Government funding of £4.8m was awarded to the project as part of the second round of the New Stations Fund, with remaining funding coming from local sources. The station is currently forecast to open in early May 2023.

Shipping: Waste Disposal

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the availability of sites for the disposal of expired maritime flares in England.

Mr Richard Holden: Up until 31 December 2022, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) provided a voluntary and free service for disposing of expired flares from the pleasure vessel sector. Since January 2023, and following consultation and extensive engagement, the pleasure vessel sector has now taken over responsibility for that service and currently has 17 sites around the UK available for receiving and disposing of such flares. Work continues to increase that number to ensure a wider geographical spread across the UK.

Motor Vehicles: Waste Disposal

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding his Department has provided for vehicle scrappage schemes in Clean Air Zones in each of the last five years; and if he will provide a breakdown by location of those zones.

Jesse Norman: Birmingham is the only NO2 Programme local authority that has implemented a scrappage scheme, which opened in 2021 with £10m of funding.

Railways: Repairs and Maintenance

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of (a) delays to the timetable and (b) increased budget for HS2 on applications for Network Rail enhancement projects.

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the average length of time taken to process Network Rail enhancement project applications since the announcement of increased funding for HS2.

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the press release entitled Transport Secretary sets out record investment plans for transport network, published on 9 March 2023, how many applications for Network Rail enhancement projects have been delayed as a result of that announcement.

Huw Merriman: Individual enhancement schemes are assessed on their alignment with Government priorities, the strength of their business case, and their affordability. Schemes seeking funding from the Department for Transport need to progress through the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP) decision gateways before moving into delivery.Detail on the decision gateways is set out in the March 2018 RNEP publication: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rail-network-enhancements-pipeline. This process has not been affected by decisions on HS2 funding and no decisions on Network Rail enhancement projects have been delayed because of the announcement on the 9 March.

Road Traffic Control

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department's guidance is on the threshold for a road to be considered for traffic calming measures.

Mr Richard Holden: Responsibility for highway management, including decisions about the provision of traffic calming measures, rests with local traffic authorities. Using their local knowledge of traffic conditions and the road network in their area, local authorities decide on appropriate traffic management policies that balance the needs of residents, emergency services, local businesses, and those who work in and visit the area. The Department has provided guidance to highway authorities on traffic calming measures in the form of Local Transport Note 1/07 Traffic Calming.

Roads: Birmingham

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department is taking steps to provide support to Birmingham City Council to increase road safety in Birmingham.

Mr Richard Holden: Responsibility for making decisions about the roads under its care including measures to protect the safety of road users, based on its knowledge of the area and taking into account local needs and considerations, rests with the Traffic Authority. The Department for Transport provides guidance to traffic authorities on various traffic management measures. Local councillors are responsible for ensuring that local decisions about the roads take account of the needs and opinions of local people.

Wales Office

Brecon Beacons National Park

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether he has made representations to the Welsh Government on renaming the Brecon Beacons National Park.

David T C Davies: National parks are a devolved matter in Wales. However, I regularly engage with the Welsh Labour Government on a variety of topics, and I would welcome discussions with them on national parks matters next time I meet with them. The UK Government is committed to supporting the promotion and use of the Welsh language, including the Welsh Government’s ambition for one million Welsh speakers by 2050. Indeed, as a Welsh speaker, I take every opportunity to promote the use of Welsh and communicate bilingually where possible. In addition, the UK Government has agreed a strong licence fee settlement with S4C - a major Welsh language broadcaster - receiving £88.8 million per annum for the first two years, which will then rise in line with inflation thereafter. However, the Brecon Beacons National Park has a long-standing international identity that is synonymous with its name. I am concerned that the exclusive use of Bannau Brycheiniog will reduce recognition of the national park on an international stage, and I struggle to understand why the Welsh name cannot be used in conjunction with the English name.

Out of Area Treatment: Tywyn

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if he will discuss with the Welsh Health Minister the provision of healthcare for English tourists in Tywyn in Gwynedd following the closure of the minor injuries unit and the inpatient ward at the Tywyn Hospital; and if he will make a statement.

David T C Davies: Healthcare is a devolved matter in Wales. However, I will be writing to the Health Minister to raise the closures at Tywyn Hospital.